Dark skies
by Kitsune Foxfire
Summary: Ash Was just enjoying a day at Sanctuary with his wife Tory when an old friend showed up looking for some lost children. Is New Orleans ready for the new Vongola family? For that matter, are the Dark-Hunters? And what does Ares have to do with it all... Rated T for language. See First A.N for more detail.
1. Chapter 1

**Kitsune here. Usual disclaimer. I own neither Dark Hunters nor Hitman Reborn. They're owned by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Akira Amano. Both women deserve praise and you should go out and buy their works if you can. I will fess up to a hyper-active imagination and random thoughts that lead to crack like this story. Seriously, my mind is one very unique place to visit.**

**Anyway, this story can be read as a stand-alone, or as a follow up to my small one-shot seires "Twilight skies". T.S. started the ball rolling, and this is where it ended. Set, um... a bit before the book "Retribution" I suppose in the Dark-Hunter series. As for Hitman Reborn, it's set after the Inheritance Arc. Please, read and enjoy. Feel free to review, or not. I've got two more chapters done, and one in the works.**

**Ah, Please help keep free for all types of stories by signing the petition on causes if you have not already done so. **

**Question of the chapter: Do you get _Déjà vu_ a lot? Sometimes I get it, and it'll last a few minutes. Including the "ah, this is _Déjà vu_" thought...and anything I or anyone else says. It's kinda weird feeling, and I feel like I am half dreaming ****'^.^**

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Tory pouted at Ash in that cute little way she had that made him want to drop everything and find the nearest bedroom...Which she was well aware of, just like he knew she'd say 'no' if he tried right now. What she really wanted was to do some work. Tory had always been a do-er, and though he knew he was fussing and she would be _fine_, he wasn't about to let her help wait on tables or cook in her condition. "Please, Tory? For me?"

"Ash, you're acting like I'm sick or something, and I'm FINE, for the last time!" Tory snapped, before sighing ruefully, "Sweetie, I'm just pregnant. Really, _really_ pregnant, but I'm not going to let it stop me from doing things for myself, ok?"

_Oh great, and now they had an audience. _Ash could feel Bride and Tabitha's eyes boring into his back. Never mind he was a god, one wrong word and those women would open a can of whoop-ass on him. Tabitha had yet to forgive Val for preventing her from doing _any_ hunting while she was pregnant. "Promise me you'll take it easy at least?"

She gave him a blindingly bright smile, "That, I can promise. I'll be well rested and ready for a fun night out watching my man play rock-star."

He had to grin back, kissing her deeply before she slipped behind the counter to offer her help to the kitchen-staff. It was still early, and Sanctuary was mostly empty. Tabitha and Bride had found out he was going to be onstage with _The Howlers_ tonight, and had promptly called Tory for a girls-day...which foolish him, he'd thought ment shopping, not a concerted effort to let Tory cook. Then again, looking back, he probably had been a bit smothering with his fussing recently. Well, at least he knew the weres would take care of her.

"Reborn, are you sure this is the place?" Ash didn't bother to turn around as a woman walked in, holding the door for someone. _Tourists_ he mused, tuning them out to listen to Fang's recounting of the the bear cubs latest escapades.

"Yeah. It's been a long time but I figured it would still be here." A voice answered her, cutting through the wolf's rueful chuckle. It sounded very young, probably a kid. "Bianchi, there's the guy I was looking for."

"He'll be able to find Hayato and the others?" The woman, Bianchi, sounded vaguely worried as the two voices approached, causing the two sitting at the bar to fall silent. Ash idly wondered who they were there to see, despite his annoyance.

"Ciaossu." The younger voice said from right behind him before hopping up onto a chair.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Fang asked, eyeing the newcomer oddly, obviously unsure of what to make of the strange pair who were apparently staring at the leader of the Dark Hunters. Ash refused to look, he was NOT going to be dragged into something, not with his pregnant wife in the kitchen annoyed with him. He was just not in the mood.

"No, we're just passing through, right Bianchi?"

The woman made an affirmative sound, "Maybe you can help us, since _someone_ is being rude."

Fang raised an eyebrow, cutting a glance at Ash, "Really?"

"Well, he's always been a moody bastard." A smirk could be heard in the kid's voice. Something in the tone sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Like you know the first thing about Ash." Fang snorted, "You're just a baby. Woman, you should teach your brat some better manners."

"Reborn isn't my child." The woman growled, "Don't insult him."

"Bianchi's my woman. I don't know you, dog-breath, but because you know Ash, I'll give you a warning. Don't annoy Bianchi, or you'll end up dead." Ash spun on his seat, ready to stop Fang from attacking the stupid tourists and froze at the sight of a black Fedora with a wide orange band. A wall-eyed lizard blinked lazily at him, seemingly amused.

"Is that a threat?" Fang practically bristled at the baby in a black suit and tie.

The baby tugged on one of his ridiculously curly sideburns and said, "You've got to eat sometime."

_Fang, enough. I've got it._ "Brave Hitman?"

The baby turned to him, and Ash could see the bright yellow pacifier around his neck, "Ciaossu, Acheron. It's Reborn now. Been a while."

"You _know_ this baby?"

"He's not a baby," Ash waved him off, "One of those evil curses that does all sorts of fun shit, Fang. I'll explain later."

"Alright then..."

He looked at the baby, no, man before him. He'd known that becoming an Arcobaleno would change the hitman, but he had not been quite ready for this. It was one thing to know that the cocky brash young hitman who had been so full of himself would find himself in the body of a baby. It was a completely different thing to _see_ his friend like that. Ash could only imagine how long it had taken the hitman to retrain his body, and all the things he'd forever lost. He buried the rising feeling of pity, knowing full well it would get him shot. "Yeah, it has. What happened to looking me up?"

Reborn gave him a cocky grin, obviously pleased with himself, "I did, a few times. But, I've been busy." _Translation, he saw me, but I didn't see him. Little shit._ Ash returned his grin. Reborn sobered suddenly, "Actually, Ash, I need your help."

"What kind of help?" He already knew he was going to help, though it was hard to imagine what kind of help the world's best hitman could possibly need.

That got a growl out of the other, "The kind you need when the Greek God of war shows up in your house and zaps you halfway around the world." Obviously,this was one of the few things Reborn was not equipped to deal with and he was not handling it well.

"Ares? Why would he do that?" Ash looked at Fang who looked just as confused as he did, "And why is it a problem? Can't you just call the Vongola's boss and get back to Italy?"

"Japan." Bianchi clarified. Ash got his first good look at her. She was attractive, with straight long auburn-red hair and full lips. Her brow was puckered with worry, though. "We were in Japan. Reborn and I were in the kitchen, and the kids were all upstairs in Tsuna's room."

_Wait, kids? They have kids?_ Fang sent, _You know what, No. I don't want you to answer that. And I thought Aimee and I had it bad. Damn._

The woman continued, oblivious to the telepathic interruption, "We heard some yelling, but nothing too unusual. We went upstairs after the explosion. The boys try and keep those kinds of things down when the girls are over. When we got up there..."

"Ares." Reborn took over, "He was standing in the middle of Tsuna's empty room. The bastard said something about sending Tsuna and the others somewhere 'interesting' to 'keep them out of the way.' He wished us luck finding them and the next thing I knew, Bianchi and I were in the square."

"Why would Ares kidnap a bunch of children?" Fang growled, leaning on the bar, "That rotten jerk. Ash, what are we gonna do?"

"We'll save the why for later. How many kids are we talking here, Reborn? And about how old?" He had a feeling he was not going to like the answer to why Ares would do such a thing.

"That I know of, there are three girls, two in middle-school and one who's five. Five boys, four also in middleschool, the fifth is also around five." Ash was a bit amazed by the number of people who had been crammed into this one kids room. Must have been some room, or a real tight squeeze. Reborn's had shaded his eyes, "He could have gone after the others, too...so a few more might show up, though."

"We just need to find them, then." Torry came out from the back as Ash filled her in, "Poor things must be scared out of their minds."

"More or less." Reborn shrugged. "If they'd had their communicators on them, I wouldn't have needed to bother you, Ash. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Cavalry's here, if they're anywhere in New Orleans, we'll find them in no time." _Preferably before dark. _"Anything else I should know? Other then they probably don't speak English?"

Bianchi pulled out a group photo and placed it in front of Ash. The group was a good size, and she calmly taped and named the people they'd be looking for. Ash was taken back at how much the photo conveyed, everyone in it seemed close, even the one guy who was standing off to the side looking away. Thankfully for Fang, none of them looked like they were Reborn's kid, which meant he was probably watching them for someone else. "You could try talking to them in Italian." Bianchi suggested, apparently understanding his concern. "Even Tsuna's gotten much better at that." She tapped the boy in the center of the photo. He had a slightly anxious look about him, like he was painfully eager to please others. It almost hurt to look at the photo's warm brown eyes.

"Not if he's panicking." Reborn shook his head, "This _is_ Tsuna we are talking about. If he's been separated from the others, things could get real bad."

"How so?"

"Let's just say that I'd expect a lot of screaming and yelling." Reborn shook his head, "Possibly explosions."

"Is he dangerous then?" Tory asked, voicing the very thought Ash had. Looking at Fang, he could tell the wolf was mentally picturing some kid running down the streets shooting fireballs from his mouth.

"Reborn means that _Tsuna_ would be the one screaming and yelling. He panics easily, it's cute." She smirked, "The explosions would be my brother, Hyatto. When Tsuna's in trouble, Hyatto tends to act first and think later."

Ash couldn't stop the chuckle the escaped his lips as some of the bears walked in with Val and Tabitha right in time for Bianchi's explanation. "I'll take it then that these kids are Mafioso?" Reborn nodded as the picture was passed around, "Of course they are, you're involved, after all. Alright then. Torry, you stay here, don't argue with me."

"I wasn't planning on it. I've got a stew cooking in the back anyway. Bride and I will sit this one out and watch the babies. _YOU_ just be sure to bring these missing kids back safe and sound, buster."

"Not a problem. Ok, so I'll take it you're all up to date?" Nods all around, "Look everywhere. They may be alone or in a group. If you find them, call me. None of you are particularly good at Japanese. Don't do anything that they might see as a threat. Think of it as picking up a bunch of half-trained squires that just got dumped in the middle of nowhere. We don't wanna give them any reason to panic, right? Let's go and find us some kids."

"Reborn, I'll stay here in case they wander in. You know how they are, after all."

"Good idea. You might want to start calling their parents. Tell them we've gone on a camping trip or something." Reborn suggested.

"Torry, Don't let Bianchi help in the kitchen. No offence, but I don't want you accidentally killing any weres." The woman just waved him off as she pulled out her phone and started dialing.

"What's that mean?" Tabatha twisted in Valuris's arms to get another look at the Italian woman.

"Simple. If my friend here is Reborn, the world class hitman, then that means his female companion is Bianchi, 'the poison scorpion'. She's a master poisoner; I wouldn't let Simi touch anything she's cooked." Ash explained as they got outside.

Tabby blinked at him, "You know some of the most interesting people, Ash. And coming from me, that's really saying something. Ok. Don't let the kids take cookies from the Nice Mob Lady. Got it." She nodded before joining the others, leaving Ash alone with Reborn.

He looked down at the cursed baby, "What?" He huffed when the other remained silent until they got to the bike.

"Bianchi's good at what she does Ash." Reborn started, "She's not super strong, a great shot, or psychic. Her talent is being able to turn any food deadly, and she's very proud of the fact."

"What's your point?"

"If I catch you bad mouthing her cooking again, I'll shoot you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Kitsune here with chapter two! Stuff happens in this one. I swear it.**

**Un. Question... "Japan is thinking about building a real GUNDAM, saying with the tech now-adays it should be possible. What other things would you LOVE to see built?" I wanna see a Zoid Lyger. GUNDAM a kick-ass, but a zoid is a quadraped, and therefor more stable. Also a sonic screwdriver.**

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Sunshine was bound and determined to get Lanie out of her shop, even if was only for a day. It was much too beautiful of a day to be wasting it inside, hidden behind black curtains and incense. Ok, so Selena, or Lanie to her friends and family, didn't really go for all that mumbo-jumbo mystic crap with her fortune telling, instead preferring a nice warm friendly shop, but still. The first half of her protest remained true. It was too nice of a day to be stuck in doors!

And that's exactly what she told her friend as she dragged her, laughing, out the door. "Sunny, stop it! Come on, I could have customers today!"

"Well, they can come again tomorrow. I hear it's going to rain then. Or a week from Tuesday, for all I care. Let's go do something, Lanie, just you and me."

"Talon being a grump again?" she asked, a glint in her eye, "Want me to hex him?"

"No!" Sunny put her hair up quickly in a messy ponytail. Ok, so maybe it was a little hot to be considered a really _nice_ day. "Talon's not being a grump, he's just been up all night the last few nights helping out with some things on the Dark-Hunter site, and I don't want to disturb him, so I thought I'd get out of the house for a bit."

"And then you saw my shop and decided to kidnap me, huh?" Selena smiled, "Alright then! Shops closed for the day!" She spun the sign in her window and swiftly locked the door, "I could use a day off anyway. I'm all yours. Let's go do something, then." Sunshine couldn't help but laugh at her friend. Most of the Devereaux sisters were a little odd, but Selena was well known for being a tad bit spontaneous, and the two of them had always gotten along well, even having tables set up next to each other before Sunny had found, or been found by, Talon. Selena still sold some of her stuff in the shop every now and then.

For a while the two women had a fun time just wondering the quarter, window shopping and gossiping with the store owners, many of whom they'd known for years. It was at some point during the early afternoon that Sunny saw Ash walking around the quarter with what appeared to be a very well dressed baby. Both looked very serious, so she didn't bother calling out to them, though she did point them out to Lanie.

Lanie grinned wickedly, "I'm starving. Wanna go to Café du Monde?"

"Oh, I can taste them already. Let's go!"

The cafe was crowded as always, though the wait to be seated wasn't that bad, all things considered. Sunshine remembered coming here with Bride once and waiting an hour just to get a seat. In comparison, ten minutes was nothing. Besides, the beignets were worth the wait, even when the wait was an hour. Speaking of Bride, "Hey, Isn't that Vane and Fury?"

"Huh?" Lanie looked up and spotted the two weres as they practically loped down the street, obviously hunting something. Both women followed them with their eyes until the two disappeared from site. "Thats just plain weird. You know, I think I saw some of the bears around today, too. I wonder what's got them all worked up." Selena frowned.

"Can you pick anything up?" The other asked, her friend, after all, was psychic.

"No. Not really. Just that they're looking for something. Or someone, maybe. It's all a jumble." She looked a little worried, "Have you heard anything from Talon? Maybe he knows what's going on."

"Hmmm? Oh! My phone!" Sunny gasped, fumbling in her bag for the high-tech thing. The only reason she'd jokingly agreed to the smart-phone was because of the built in GPS tracker. Talon could find her phone for her if she lost it in the house using his computer. "AH! Here it is." Pulling out the poor paint-splattered abused device she checked it and was both disappointed and relieved to see that there were no messages. "Nothing. He might still be sleeping though. I'll send him a text."

"Good idea. I'd give Amanda or Tabby a call, but with the kids..." Selena trailed off.

"Yeah, they might be more in the dark then we are. No reason to worry them. It's probably nothing, though."

The quarter was starting to really fill up as evening drew closer, which was only to be expected on a Friday. The crowds pressed close together, making the heat almost unbearable. It felt as if the world was wrapped in a warm wet blanket, and Sunshine was about ready to admit defeat and return to the nice air conditioned shop for the rest of the day. "I don't believe it. Sunny, would you look at that, it's Val and Tabby." Selena broke he train of thought, "Ok that does it, something's definitely up. I'm calling that no good little sister of mine and asking her just what the hell is going on!" She practically hissed the last part as she came to a complete stop, pulling out her phone, glaring daggers at her little sister's retreating form. Sunshine watched as her other friend also vanished like the others had, intent on some sort of search as she stood next to Lanie. She had to admit, she was getting jumpy herself. So it wasn't quite so surprising when she let out a little yelp when the girl grabbed her arm.

"There you are, Aunt Jessie! You and Aunt Sarah said you would be over by that shop," the girl waved vaguely to the left, "right Haru-chan?"

"Right, Kyoko-chan. We've been looking everywhere for you!" Sunny stared at the two girls in shock. Both were young, one had honey-brown hair and golden eyes. The other had hair that was the same color as Selena's, a dark bitter chocolate color, and brown eyes. She'd never seen them before in her life!

"Um, I'm sorry, but..." She began only for one of the girls to cut her off.

"Oh, Haru knows, we were running late!" The darker haired one said, smiling a little too brightly. "Oh! Aunt Sarah, were you just going to call us? Sorry!" They both bowed low, reminding her of the dojo Talon helped out at some times. She wondered if these two girls were asian.

"You're being followed." The one with the lighter hair said in a low voice before she rose, "Haru-chan noticed, and we thought we could help. Please, just play along, ok?"

Selena exchanged a look with Sunny, figuring it was probably one of the weres, or possibly Ash following them, though they didn't see any of them at the moment. Finally Lanie shrugged, "Alright girls, apology accepted. Let me just send a text to your dad to let him know you two are all right."

_Tabby, In Quarter with Sunny. Saw You 2, Ash and Weres. Being followed. You Guys?_

"All done. Where to?"

The girl with the darker hair tugged at Sunny's hand, "Over this way! I saw some shops here that looked interesting." She grinned, leading the way out of the crowd, towards more deserted streets. For a moment Sunny wondered why, but then realized that here, in the crowd, there was nowhere to run. These girls were looking for a way out without letting on that they knew they were being tailed. Now that she knew she was being followed, she could actually feel the eyes on her. Looking at her friend, she saw Selena nod; she felt it, too. When the phone beeped, all four looked at it.

_Not us. Where? On our way._

Lanie looked at the girls.

"Oh, Daddy's such a worry wort," Haru said, taking the phone and texting.

_532 Iberville Street, Help is there._

She paused a moment so both women could see the message. The street was a bit of a run from where they were. It would be best if they could stick to the crowds for a bit longer. Sunny was glad to know that these two girls were not alone, though. From the looks of them, they really didn't have much on them, except for a small day-pack that looked to be mostly empty. She wondered if they were homeless, but they were very well dressed for homeless kids. Except for the shoes. Their shoes, she noticed as they continued to make nonsical small talk, were too big on them and well worn. If nothing else, she was determined to get them new shoes as a thank you at the end of all this. Being barefoot would almost be better.

There was a sudden tension in the air, and both women looked at the girls, who gulped, but looked determined. It was still half a block away from the right road, and the streets were mostly empty here. Without a word, all four broke into a run. Curses could be heard behind them, and Selena almost looked back.

"Don't! Don't look back. It'll slow you down," Panted Kyoko as they sprinted the last hundred yards to the mostly empty parking lot and ducked into it. There were a few cars, all of which would have made perfectly good places to make a stand in Sunny's mind, but still the girls dragged them on until they reached the heart of the lot, and could no longer see the street. Finally they came to a halt, and faced the way they came, putting the older women behind them. Both girls stood strong as the group of common thugs rounded the corner.

Selena's expression said it all. Here they'd been expecting something paranormal to be following them, and it was a group of young human men looking for trouble. It was almost funny, but then she saw a few pull out knives, and reminded herself once again that normal, everyday people could be dangerous, too. "You really don't want to do that." Sunny said with as much authority as she could muster, despite the fact that she was winded and a little afraid. When Tabby and the cavalry arrived, these guys were going to be dog food if they didn't back off now. "Just turn around and walk away, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened, alright?"

"Ha, listen to the La'puta! She thin' she gonna scare us away? Fuck tha' lady. We chase you all over town, you gonna pay for that, you bitches."

"I really think you should listen to the lady." Kyoko cocked her head to the side, "Sorry, I never did get your name."

"Oh, It's Sunshine, and this is Selena."

"Oh? What wonderful names!" The girl exclaimed before turning her attention back to the hoodlums, "Please do as Mrs. Sunshine says and leave."

The eight of them just broke out laughing. "Aww. Little whore said please."

One of them, probably the leader, stepped forward, "Gonna beg? You scared, lil'girl?"

"Haru's not scared of you!" Snapped the other girl, indignantly.

He made a rude gesture, "Well you should be! I'll cut you real good, bitch!"

"Ch. Stupid women, if you're going to bring back playmates for us, could you at least try and not bring back trash?"

"Gokudera-kun!" Haru's face lit up as she turned towards the voice. A rough looking youth stepped out of a van behind them, his silver hair hanging limply about his face in the heat. Aqua eyes glared past the women, watching the group of thugs.

"Now, Now, Gokudera, It's not the girls fault if trash decides to follow them." A voice answered from on top of a dumpster across the lot. A dark haired youth sat there smiling at them before jumping down onto his bare feet, a wooden sword resting on his shoulder.

"Shut it, Yamamoto. My feet are burning, and I blame them." The silver haired kid growled back, pointing at the thugs, who were very confused at this point.

"Well, you've got a point there." The dark haired one continued to smile, turning his attention to the older teens, his brown eyes cold. "You really shouldn't pick on girls, you know. It's not very nice."

"What are you foo? Crazy?"

"Which one of you," A voice asked from behind the street gang, "called my sister a whore?" Another teen with short white hair and and angry look in his gray eyes stomped forward cracking his wrapped knuckles, "Tsuna! I claim that one."

"Ryohei, we really _should_ give them a chance to apologize and leave first." Said a boy with light brown spiky hair and warm chocolate eyes. He almost looked apologetic as he took in the whole scene from his vantage point from the front of the lot. Sunny realized then that the girls had deliberately run to the back, surrounding the thugs with their friends. She wondered if they knew what they were doing, though.

"I _extremely _don't care."

"Fuck this! What you fools think you gonna do? You ain't got nothin but some wooden stick, yo! You ain't even got shoes, dawg." Sunny looked, the jerk was right. None of these kids had shoes on, only dirty socks, which offered little protection against the searing blacktop. One of the punks laughed, "This fight be over like nothin."

"Well, you heard him, Tsuna. They want to fight." The one with the wooden sword smiled, stepping in front of the women as the two girls quickly maneuvered Selena and Sunshine further back.

"Yeah, Boss. Besides. You shouldn't try mugging someone if you aren't ready to get the crap beat out of you."

"G..Gokudera..." The brown haired boy seemed to sigh in defeat, "Sorry about this. But, you _did_ bring this on yourself. You really shouldn't rob people, or attack them."

The apparent leader of the street gang laughed, "Eight against four nuts? Get um!"

With a swing, the wooden sword transformed into a lethal edged weapon, the boy wielding the blade spun it in his hand and went after two of the punks with the flat of his sword, smacking the knives right out of their hands before slamming the pommel into their heads, knocking them out cold.

The rough looking silver haired boy pulled out a stick of what looked like dynamite and tossed it at another two. The explosion was mostly noise, but it did get both of them to drop their weapons and clutch their heads in an attempt to save their hearing. The boy smirked as he viciously kneed one in the crotch and slammed his fist into the other's gut, dropping them both like stones.

The boy with the wrapped hands went after them with his fists. He knocked the first out with one blow to the chin and pummeled the one who had foolishly called Kyoko a whore. Right before the thug dropped he rocket punched him, sendinging him right into one of the last two thugs standing as the man rushed the brown haired kid, knocking both hoodlums out cold. "Oops. Sorry, Tusna."

"That's alright..." he winced, before turning his attention back to the last man standing, the one leader of the bunch. "You really should give up. I, I don't want to fight you."

"You just to _scared_ to fight me." The man sneered as he rushed the boy who seemed to stumble at just the right time, catching the man's knife hand and twisting it, causing him to drop it with a yelp as he held the hand at a hard angle.

"Please, don't make me hurt you." The boy's tone was much more serious now, the warning clear.

"Fuck you!" The man lashed out with his other hand, only to have his blow blocked. The young teen twisted around and somehow got the man on his knees before headbutting him hard. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he slumped forward.

"OW! ow owowowowowowo! That hurts!"

"Tsuna, you ok?" the one with the sword laughed.

"His head is like a rock!" The boy whimpered, holding his own head for a second. "I really didn't want to do that!"

"Boss, you did great!" The one with the apparent dynamite grinned, obviously pleased with the whole situation.

The other teen pumped his fist in the air after wiping sweat from his brow, "To the Extreme! Now, let's take their shoes!" He grinned, making the move on the one he'd knocked out first.

"Screw the shoes, turf top! Take the wallets! Cash, you idiot, CASH!"

"We can't do that, that's robbing them!" Pointed out the one with the sword as both the other boys made for the wallets.

"Well, they _were_ trying to rob the girls." The two pointed out almost simultaneously.

"But that doesn't make it right!" The fourth boy put in, obviously worn out, "GAH ...Why didn't we try and sell more things?"

The one with the longer hair, Goku-something, she thought it was, glared at the van he'd exited before growling out something Sunny didn't understand,_"We could have if that stupid cow would have given up more than two grenades!"_

"_No good, that store owner had the police after us way too fast as it was, _Gokudera,_ we barely managed to get the girls shoes and enough money for some snacks."_ The other rescuer turned pick-pocket responded in the same language. Sunny thought maybe it was possibly Japanese.

"Um, Excuse me, but I don't understand a word of what you're saying." Selena gripped, at a bit of a loss at what to do.

"Good."

"Gokudera, that wasn't very nice." the dark haired one laughed as he took the shoes off the one nearest him, "Did you girls have any luck?"

"No, sorry, Yamamoto. We couldn't find any way to get some money fast, and when we called Tsuna's place, no one answered." Kyoko sighed as she opened the van door and looked inside. "Oh, Lambo-kun and I-pin-chan are sleeping?" Curious, Sunny walked over to the vehicle and saw the lock had been picked, inside two young children slept. One was wearing a red and black outfit, and the other was wearing cow-print footie pjs. Both appeared to be very warm and were shifting uncomfortably in their sleep.

"Yeah, Kyoko, we just got them to calm down. Lambo was making himself sick running around in this heat." Explained the gray eyed one as he pulled on his stolen shoes and tied them.

"Oh, I'll leave them alone, then, brother." She smiled as she and Haru passed out a few half melted candy bars to everyone. They even offered some to Sunny and Selena.

"Dammit, where is Reborn?" muttered Tsuna as he pulled on the smallest pair of shoes they'd liberated. Everyone looked at him, "Alright, I guess we have no choice, and they _were_ going to rob these two, Mrs Sunshine and Mrs. Selena, right?" The women nodded, "Just take their cash and shoes, though, alright? I _mean_ it, Gokudera." The other boy pouted and dropped the credit card he was holding, "We'll call the police and have someone come get them. I don't think it's safe to let them stay out here all night." The girls smiled in encouragement as they quickly stuffed the remaining pairs of shoes into the day pack. Apparently _they_ had no qualms about leaving the whole gang barefoot. Sunny personally agreed with the decision, and wondered if maybe suggesting pants-ing them would be a bit much. They were just beaten by a bunch of kids after all.

"Extreme!"

"Whatever you say, Tsuna."

"Yes, Boss!"

It wasn't long before the wallets were gathered and the boys were pooling the measly cash together. Right then Selena's cell phone beeped. "Oh crap! I forgot!"

"Huh?" Yamamoto asked, leafing through the fives, apparently trying to figure out how much they had.

"LANIE! SUNNY! Are you guys OK?" Tabitha shouted, dashing into the parking lot and coming to a stop, Val hot on her heels. Both took in the site before them and Sunny's only thought was _oops_ as she watched their faces go from worry to relief to shock back to worry then straight to anger. Within seconds Tabby was armed with two wicked looking daggers, "Drop the sword, buddy, and back the fuck away from my sister!"

Val put an arm out, holding his wife back. He radiated that cold detached anger Sunny was used to associating with his feelings towards Greeks in general and Daemons, "Normally I wouldn't bother with common criminals such as yourselves, but for family, I'll make an exception."

"Common criminals?" The white haired boy growled, "We're not criminals!"

"Ryohei-kun, that might be more effective if you drop the wallet." Pointed out Haru as he quickly dropped the wallet. "Technically...Hekee!" She yelped as Vane, Fury and Fang rounded the corner, approaching the scene with a predatory glint in their eyes.

"Tabby? Tabby I think there's been a bit of a miss..." Sunny started only to be interrupted.

"What's this? These scumbags have reinforcements?" Gokudera growled, kicking one of the downed thugs. "I knew we should have taken their credit cards, too."

"You're a real dirtbag, kid." Fury growled. "Picking on those weaker than you."

"Wanna piece of this?" The boy's aqua eyes narrowed into slits and he stepped forward, shrugging off Tsuna's hand.

The smaller teen sighed and pulled on what looked like mittens while he positioned himself in front of the women and the van where the kids were. Next thing she knew, it looked like his head was on fire. "Um, Tsuna was it? I think you might be on fire..." Sunny said, tapping his shoulder.

The boy turned and looked at her, his eyes now a golden color, "It's nothing to worry about," he said, his voice calm despite good size flame dancing on his forehead, "just stay back. We'll handle this."

Fang smirked, "Bring it punk." The smirk faltered when Gokudera pulled eight sticks of dynamite out of seemingly thin air with a shit eating grin. "How the hell?" While all eyes were on the dynamite, Yamamoto rushed forward and lashed out with his sword, using the distraction to disarm Tabatha before dancing out of range of Val's retaliatory strike. He continued to dodge, parring only occasionally, his demeanor serious as he waited for an opening.

Selena rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, calling someone

One of the sticks of dynamite was lit, dropped and kicked high towards them where it exploded over the weres and former dark hunter with a disproportionate amount of smoke. While they were distracted Gokudera tossed three sticks, all of which the weres easily dodges only to be shocked when they changed direction in mid flight, exploding right before contact.

Tabatha rushed through the dispersing smoke towards her sister and friend, only to be stopped by the two young girls you latched on to her in a hug, "We won't let you hurt them!" Shouted Haru as the woman tried to dislodge the girls without hurting _them._

"Tabby, I really think there's been a misunderstanding!" Sunny shouted.

"Tell that to them!" The woman growled back, "What are you kids, velcro?"

Fang, coughing, shot forward from where he had been tossed by the small explosion, apparently unhurt but really pissed. Before he could make much headway he found himself face to face with Tsuna. "Stop this." The boy demanded.

"Go to hell, punk." Fang growled out throwing a punch which Tsuna easily blocked, skidding back a foot. Fang was actually impressed, even holding back, that should have sent the boy flying. Then again, the flames dancing on his head were kind of a giveaway that the kid was anything but normal. "What _are_ you?"

"Mafioso." The boy seemed calm, but made no move to attack, instead defending himself. "Vongola Familia Diecimo."

"Ahhhh Screw this..." moaned Vane as he picked himself up from the wall he'd been blasted into, "Ash can just pull his jedi mind trick on them later." He growled, teleporting himself behind the van (and the crazy kids who were more than typical punks) for a sneak attack. As he rounded the vehicle he glanced in the back window and came face to face with a young kid wearing a cow suit. He blinked in surprise, the wolf in him finally catching on to what Sunny had been shouting as he recognized the ridiculously dressed boy.

"EYAAAAAA! Lambo's not scared!" shouted the boy, giving away his position.

"Lambo!" Ryohei dashed back and blitzed him with a combo attack that was much too fast to be pulled off by a regular human. Vane was forced to defend, even if he'd wanted to attack, the teen's guard was too tight.

_What did you do?_ Sent Fury, _These guys are suddenly pissed! _Quickly he told the others about the kids in the van. He felt his brothers' chergin as they continued to fight a stupid battle. The wolf knew he'd have to do something soon if he wanted to win, but he didn't feel right hurting a kid who was just protecting his family.

"ENOUGH!" All the weres froze at the sound of Ash's voice with visible relief. The teens paused, looking for who had caused the end to the battle. Their eyes finding Ash, each of them tensed up, obviously calculating the best method of attack.

"Ciaossu, Tsuna." the well dressed baby from before stepped out from behind Ash.

"Reborn!" Tsuna's eyes widened in shock, "Where have you been?"

"Oh hey, it's the kid!" Yamamoto laughed, "These your friends?"

"More or less." The baby smirked, and the teens put away their weapons. The two girls ran to the van and grabbed the kids who had been hiding inside.

"This is why I told you guys to NOT make any sudden moves." Ash gripped.

"No fucking way. I thought the brats we were looking for didn't speak English?" Tabbatha pointed at the group of now-slightly worn out teens, "I got news for you, Ash, they speak-a-da English just fine!"

The weres all looked at Ash who shrugged and looked at the Reborn. Reborn, in turn, looked at the teens, "Tsuna?"

"Ares said something about it being a gift because it wouldn't be as fun otherwise." The boy sat hard on the ground, the flame on his forehead dissipating, "Reborn, he was a _LOT_ scarier than his picture. Please tell me you have something to do with all this?"

"Nope, sorry Tsuna." Reborn poked at one of the fallen street thugs, the one Tsuna had taken out, "Not a bad job here. You didn't even have to get Deathperate."

"I was scared out of my mind! This whole time!" The boy shouted.

"But you did it anyway. And you protected the women. Good for you." Reborn nodded, "Ash called the cops already, so lets get back to base."

"Base? Don't tell me there's a Vongola base _here?_"

"No, there isn't," Ash glared at the baby, "Or there better _not_ be one in _my_ city. We're taking you to Sanctuary. You should be safe there while we get this all straightened out."


	3. Chapter 3

**Kitsune here with chapter 3! Last one I have pre-typed. I'll be taking a break to get a few more chapters ahead. Enjoy.**

**Question of the chapter: "If you could go anywhere, where would you go?" Me, I'm all for Shinjuku Tokyo (Duh), New Orleans, and the middle of the wilderness miles away from anything. Go figure, right?**

* * *

"Sanctuary?" Tsuna asked, He still sat on the ground, apparently unconcerned that he was surrounded by people who just a moment ago were trying to beat him up. In fact, he seemed completely at ease as he looked up at everyone with an expression of open honestly. "Is that like a church?"

Ash laughed, "No, far from it, it's a bar on Ursines."

"Oh," The teen blinked, "a bar. A BAR!" He shook his head, "REBORN! We can't take Lambo and I-pin into a bar! Or Kyoko-chan or Haru-chan for that matter! What are you thinking!"

"We'll be fine, Tsuna," the girl with the honey-brown hair said, "Don't worry about us! And we'll be sure to keep I-pin and Lambo out of the way, too, right, Haru?"

The other girl nodded, "Right, Kyoko! Don't worry about us!"

Reborn smacked the teen, "Stop being such a wuss, Tsuna. If the girls say they can handle it, they can handle it." A glint appeared in the hitman's eye, "Or do you want me to call the ninth and see what he can arrange?"

The boy looked at the girls before giving a small sigh and smiling as he stood up. "No. No reason to get him involved, right? Ahh, Sorry, I haven't introduced myself! I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but you can just call me Tsuna..."

"Loser-Tsuna! No-Good-Tsuna!" the small boy in the cow outfit laughed causing Tsuna to wince slightly, deflating. Archeron felt a twinge of sympathy for the boy. He lowered his shield, expecting to feel a rush of emotion, possibly a reason why Br-Reborn was following around this kid, a boy who obviously was at least picked on. Definitely _NOT _the kind of person he'd expect the world's greatest hit man to hang out with. He scowled behind his rayban shades as he felt nothing from any of the boys, and only mild amusement from the girls. Apparently he was missing something.

The teen with silver hair and aqua eyes growled threateningly at the boy, "You stupid cow!" He flexed his hands, reaching for his belt.

Tsuna continued with a laugh, waving his friend off, "but everyone back home calls me 'no-good Tsuna', Right Lambo?" The cowboy grinned. "Anyway, that's Lambo and I-pin." He pointed to the two youngest members. I-pin looked over at them and then hid her face, while Lambo waved enthusiastically.

Reborn took over the introductions, "The loudmouth is Hayato Gokudera, Tsuna's right hand-man. For now anyway." The baby smirked, "The kid with the wooden sword is Takeshi Yamamoto, a baseball player. Ryohei Sasagawa's a boxer. The girls are Kyoko Sasagawa, Ryohei's younger sister, and Haru Miura. They're Tsuna's girls"

"Re-Reborn!" The boy stuttered, blushing. He turned to the girls, "I don't know where he gets these ideas!" They giggled, either ok with the label, or used to the antics of the teen.

"Wanna tell me how we got our asses handed to us by a bunch of middle-schoolers who are made up of a looser, a loudmouth, a baseball-nut and a boxer?" Fury growled, interrupting the teens.

_You lost?_ Ash sent, surprised. When he had arrived things hadn't looked that bad.

_Well, I wouldn't say we LOST, but, yeah, things had definitely taken a turn for the worse. Vane thinks they weren't really even trying, either. I've got to agree, too. I mean, look at them, they're totally beat. Ash, what is up with these kids? If they're normal humans, I'm a poodle._

_That's what I'd like to know..._"First, let's get out of here. We've got eight kids here who've been out all day in this heat. Not to mention the shock of getting zapped halfway around the world."

Tabitha looked carefully at the group of teens. Now that they were not threatening her, she could see how worn out they actually were. The girls and the youngest looked to be in better shape then they boys, but even they looked worn out. She frowned, "Ok, Val, you bring the car around. I think we can fit three, maybe four in the back, plus the kids. The rest of you will have to make due with riding on the back of the bikes." Her husband sighed, sending Ash a rueful look before heading off to do his wife's bidding.

"Tenth, you should go in the car." Hayato barely waited till she had finished speaking.

"Gokudera, I really think onii-san should ride with the girls. He gave Lambo and I-pin all his water and snacks."

"I'm fine, Tsuna! Extremely!" The other three boys looked at him, not saying a word. Finally he scratched his head, "Right. I'll ride with the girls and the kids. To keep an eye on them."

"Thanks, Onii-san." Tsuna smiled, "Oh! Reborn, have you heard anything from Hibari-san or Crome-chan?" he asked at the group headed out of the lot and towards where the bikes were.

"They're here as well?"

"That bastard Ares said he was sending _all_ of us. You think he could have at least sent us to the same pace. It took twenty minutes to chase down Lambo thanks to that asshole."

"Now now, it wasn't that bad." Takeshi laughed, "at least he didn't land in someone's pool like Tsuna did."

Ash couldn't help but chuckle along with the group, "Not the best landing."

"The pool wasn't so bad...they had dogs." He turned his brown eyes up at Ash and whimpered, "Dogs always chase me. I had to run for my life."

"Wait" 'Laine interrupted as she and Sunny walked along, "I'm lost. What's going on?"

"Oh you know, just the usual, Sis." Tabby said, "Greek God showed up in this kid's house in Japan for some reason and 'ported them to New Orleans. Donno why yet. Just rounding up the lemmings right now."

"Ah. Ok then. Need a hand? I've got a dinner with Bill, but I can give him a call if you do."

"Thanks for the offer, Lanie, but that's alright. We've got a bunch of people on it." Ash nodded to Sunny as they reached the bikes, "Tell Talon to sit tight, and we'll call him if we need him, alright? We're hoping to find everyone before sundown."

"Right, got it Ash. Let us know how it goes." Sunny smiled brightly, dragging her friend away with a wave.

"So, who's riding with who, then?" Takeshi asked, resting his sword on his shoulder.

"Well, for one thing, _that's_ going in the car." Fang pointed to the weapon.

"Oh?" The boy lost his easy smile, a dangerous glint coming into his eye, "Shigure Kintoki goes with me."

"Yamamoto," Ryohei rested a hand on the other boy's shoulder, "I'll watch it, to the extreme!"

"Sempai...Right. I'll get it back from you later then." the teen was all smiles again, handing over the wooden sword, hilt first. "Sorry, the carry bag got left in Tsuna's room." Ash had to admit he was a little confused, all this over a bamboo sword. Though, he seemed to recall a glint of metal as he had come into the parking lot. Not the weirdest weapon he'd ever seen, but he and Reborn had a lot to talk about, apparently.

"Right, then Ryohei will ride with the girls and the kids in the car with Tabatha and Val." Vane said as he swung a leg over his bike. "Who's riding with who on the bikes?"

"Yamamoto goes with Fury and Gokura goes with Fang." Reborn pointed to the groups.

Tsuna stared at the Acabarano, aghast, "Don't just go deciding things on your own!"

"I'll ride with you, Vane. Tsuna, You're with Ash."

"Why?"

"That's how I roll."

The teen just sighed in response and walked, dejected, over to Ash. The god just looked at the teen and shook his head, knowing full well Reborn had pulled this so he wouldn't have to answer any questions. "Alright, now that that's been decided, we'll all meet up back at Sanctuary. Call if you spot any of the other missing kids, alright?"

"Got it, Ash." came the response as the car and the bikes started up. Everyone else pulled away leaving him still standing there with a kid who looked like he'd rather be in a pool chased by dogs again then right there as he watched his friends pull away.

Archeron sat back, holding the bike up between his legs with ease as he held out a second helmet, "Come on, get on, I don't bite." Tsuna jumped slightly. Just then Ash's phone rang, "Hold that thought. Ash here."

"Hey Ash, Rick here. I saw on the Squire-board that you were lookin' for some kids. Well, we got two weird-ass kids down at the police station that I think belong to you. Whacha want me to do with them?"

"Two?"

"Yeah, some brat with purple hair and one red eye and another boy with black hair and a yellow bird. Both kids are armed, to boot. A car picked them up about an hour ago. Apparently they've been trying to kill each other or something. So, what's the deal?"

Ash looked over at Tsuna, thinking about the picture he'd been shown. The one kid with dark hair and the bird fit but the other didn't...though he did remember a girl with blue hair and an eyepatch. Chances were this purple haired kid was tied in somehow. "Yeah. They're some of the kid's we've been looking for. Bail them out and get their asses to Sanctuary. Drop my name with whoever you need to to make it happen, but with the kids tell them 'Reborn' sent you. Got it?"

"Who the hell is Reborn?"

"An annoying guy who is really going to owe me big for this."

Rick laughed, "Got it, boss. I'll get right on it, and have them to you in a few." The phone went dead.

Tsuna had not moved the whole time, "Did you find the others?"

"Yeah, sounds like it." Ash nodded his head to the back of his bike, "So you getting on or what?"

"Eh? Um..." he eyed the bike and the man nervously. Archeron tried really hard not to get annoyed. He was used to people finding him intimidating, even scary, but so far he'd done nothing to warrant this kind of reaction from the boy who by all means was too young to really be affected by those aspects of his powers. The boy took a step back, "I'm sorry!"

"For what?"

"Somehow, I get the feeling you're angry with me." Tsuna offered a shy smile, "I'm not scared of you." He said, despite the fact there was a slight shaking in his hand as he took the helmet, "I'm just...no good, I guess?" He laughed, putting the helmet on.

Ash stared at the kid, _talk about a complete lack of self-esteem. _"Tsuna, you really shouldn't say that about yourself. Hell, you shouldn't let your friends get away with saying that about you, either."

"Eh? You mean Lambo? He's just being Lambo." Tsuna pointed out as he settled himself on the bike.

"I mean Reborn." He growled. He didn't remember his old friend being such a jerk. "Hold on."

"Have _you_ ever tried to get Reborn to not do something? Impossible!" Tsuna grabbed on, holding tight as the bike started, ending all conversation.

At every slight turn, Tsuna squeezed tighter. Ash was sure the teen's eyes were closed, and he could actually feel him shaking slightly. Archeron went as slow as he could, but still he could feel the fear radiating off the boy. It made the normally short ride seem much longer. When they'd arrived, it was obvious everyone else was already inside.

"We're here."

"I...Thanks, Ash-san. I'm sorry, I'm not very good with bikes. It took me forever to even get my airbike going...and not driving is even scarier, I think. I don't think I'm ever going to drive at this rate."

"What's an air-bike?"

"Oh! Uh." Suddenly Tsuna looked nervous for a second, "Well, you know Reborn, so it should be ok to tell you, right?"

Now Ash was confused, "Tell me what?"

"You know that world-wide earthquake a while back?"

Somehow he didn't like where this was going. "Yeah...?"

"That was kinda our fault. From when we came back from the future. Except, we made it so that future would never happen. But while we were there Giannini and Spanner made these air-bikes for us to use and we had to learn how to use them. Gokura-kun and Yamamto did really good. Though Onii-san kept crashing into the wall to start with, he got better. But I was horrible! I couldn't even stay ON the BIKE! Lal kept yelling at me, too."

Ignoring the fact that for normal humans, time travel was impossible, changing the future to the point where it triggered a worldwide quake was something even a God couldn't do easily. This kid was certifiably nuts. "Lal? Lal Mich?"

"You know Lal?" Tsuna's smile brightened, "Future Lal was really strict and scary, but she was so cool, too. Thanks to her and the others we were able to win..." his smile faded, "but...Yuni..." Shouting could be heard from Sanctuary, followed by what sounded like furniture being tossed. The teen looked slightly pained, "Ahhh. Never mind that now. It sounds like they're going to trash the place." The boy then went running straight to the door, ducking around Dev who was too busy looking inside to really notice one skinny teen.

Ash was hot on his heels, "Dev?"

"I've got no clue where you dug these kids up from, but can you please put them back? Aimee is having a fit, They've already broken two chairs, and the whole lot of them are picking a fight with anything or anyone who so much as looks at them funny."

Hyato's voice rung out, "Where's the Tenth?"

"You're too noisy. Shut up before I bite you to death."

Both men shared a look, "Well, you're the bouncer, get bouncing, bear." Ash gave his friend a light shove and followed, pulling the door shut behind him and putting up a shield. Hopefully it would stop any stupid human from getting mixed in.

"Ohhh~I thought you were playing with me, Hibari." A youth with purple hair and one red eye said as he lazily leaned on a trident. _So then Hibari would be the other one who got picked up by the cops_. He followed the mismatched gaze to a black-haired student wielding tonfas.

"Where's mama? Lambo wants beef bowl!"

"Not now Lambo!"

"Ehh? Mukuro? What are you doing here?" Tsuna gulped, "I thought...AHHH Chrome-chan!" He spun to face Ash, "We need to go find Chrome-chan!"

"It's nice to see you again, Tsuna." Mukuro smirked, "What exactly have you gotten my dear Chrome mixed up in this time, hmmm?" Tsuna backed away quickly, almost tripping over himself.

"Leave the boss alone, Mukuro! He's got nothing to do with it!"

"Then why is the omnivore here?"

"H-Hibari?" Tsuna yelped, dodging a blow "I'm sorry! I don't know what's going on either! One minute I was in my room with the others, then this guy shows up and the next we're here! I'm just glad you two are ok." He looked at both of them, his expression worried, but honest, "If you want to beat me up, you can do it later, but right now we need to go find Chrome-chan."

Mukuro laughed, "Chrome-chan is fine. I am borrowing her body."

"What?" Tabitha looked at him, "Am I missing something?"

"It was unnerving when she vanished like that again. I thought I told you to take better care of her. If she comes back hurt, you'll regret it, Tsuna." A mist enveloped the teen and he toppled forward, his hair turning blue. Tsuna rushed forward to catch the other as pants were replaced with a mini-skirt and an eyepatch appeared. _That's some possession technique_ "Boss?"

"Chrome-chan! Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Ch. Coward." Hibari growled out, turning away from the girl and turning to Reborn, "Baby, what is going on?"

"Think of it as a vacation." Reborn waved off the irritated youth, "Bianchi has already called everyone's families, so it's all fine."

"Almost everyone. Tsuna, your mom's on the line. I just got a hold of her." Bianchi waved the phone, "She says the cruise is going well, and she wants to speak to you."

Tsuna snached the phone, waving at his friends to be quiet, "_Ah...hi, mom!...uhhuh...Yes, Reborn decided to take us all on a...Cultural trip(?)"_ he shot his tutor a look, "_I-pin and Lambo are with us...No, Fuuta is staying with Enma this week, remember?...Yes, I'll be sure to call and let them know about the change...Yes, mom...alright...no don't put dad on!..." _He sighed,_ "Hi. Yeah, it's kinda family related...I don't know! Ares just showed up in my room!...YES ARES!... I KNOW he's the Greek god of war! EH? How is this a good thing?...Fine...fine...no, Reborn knows some people here, I think we'll be alright...Yeah...I'll call you or grandpa if I need a hand...uhhuh...don't worry, alright? Just enjoy your cruise! Everyone's here with me, we'll be fine."_

With another sigh he looked up at Ash, "Would you mind if I made just one more long distance call?"

"Not my phone." He nodded to Aimee, who was standing oh-so-conveniently close by.

"Ma'm? may I please call my friend? One of the kids who lives with us is staying with him this week, and I don't want them to panic."

"That's quite all right, sweetie..."she pressed some buttons, "there you go, dial normally."

"Thanks!" Tsuna quickly dialed, ignoring the bickering going on in the background that had settled to a dull roar as the other teens worked their way buggers and soft drinks. "Pick up...pick up..._Ah! Enma, It's Tsuna!" _ He held the phone away from his ear as shouting could be heard.

"_Where are you? We went by your house and it looked like you were attacked! We were just about to go looking!"_

"_I'm fine! We're all fine! We're just...kind of in America right now."_

_another voice answered, apparently the phone was on speaker, "Did another Family attack you?"_

"_No. Not really...we kind of got kidnapped by the Greek god of War, Ares."_

A woman's voice could be heard "Ares?_ Only you, Tusna, would manage to get kidnaped by a GREEK god. Your Japanese-Italian. You should be kidnaped by Mars or __ Hachiman__."_

"_I shouldn't be getting kidnapped by any gods, Adelheid!"_ Tsuna cried, "_Anyway, Reborn, Bianchi, the girls, and everyone else is here, too, so don't worry too much. We're working on what happened, but you should be careful on your end, too."_

"_Need us to run interference?"_ the woman asked.

"_If you could... We called all the parents and they think we're doing a cultural trip, but you know how it is..."_

"_No problem! The Simon Famiglia will run interference. Oh, and we'll let Shoichi and Spanner know. Be careful, Tsuna."_

"_Mmm! You too, Enma!" _Hanging up the phone Tsuna sighed, "Why do these things always happen to me?" He smiled up up Aimee in thanks as she put a burger and fries down in front of him before digging in. It wasn't long before Ash had to make room as the other teens quickly swarmed the youth, swapping food and insults with each other.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Kitsune here with the next chapter of "Dark Skies". Sorry for the wait! I'm not thrilled with chap six is, so there may be a slightly longer wait for 5 and six, but the chapters are basically done (7 is started), so here you go. I hope you enjoy, feel free to review, or not...I DO know where we are going with this. Oh, at work I did a headcount, and there's something like twenty-five active (as in they speak at least once) characters in this story by chapter six, but I forgot about Sunshine and Lanie, so, make that twenty-seven. That's A LOT. So, if I got anyone's name wrong, or if someone seems a little off at any point, let me know and I'll go back and fix it.**_

_**Question of the chapter: "Do you check other people's favorites to find stories to read?" I raid fave lists of writers I like all the time! If I like your stories, I kinda figure I'll like what you read. Generally I'm right, too.**_

* * *

Tsuna moaned as he burrowed deeper into the covers. He could feel the overly cool blast of the AC as his body tried to convince him it really was time to get up and tend to some important needs. Idly he wondered who had cranked it up. Summer had just started, and even though his mother was a fan of a cool house, she wasn't one for a cold house...

As he tried to roll over he bumbled into a warm body and blearily opened his eyes only to find himself staring Yamamoto's head. _What is Yamamoto doing on my bed...? _Not that it really was too unusual to find one of his friends crashed on his bed. In fact, after a particularly difficult training session or battle they'd all tend to gather at his house and crash... It all came back to him in a rush as he sat up, sending Lambo tumbling to the foot of the over-sized bed he found himself sandwiched between Gokudera and Yamamoto, with Ryohei snoring loudly half off the end of the bed. Tsuna had no distinct memories about what had happened after coming back to "Sanctuary" with those strange people and Reborn.

"That's right...I remember that Reborn suggested we all get some rest and get out of the way before the bar opened. I must have been more worn out then I thought, I hope Kyoko and Haru are alright." Slowly the teen wiggled his way out of the blankets and stood, looking around the room. It was a decent sized room, with the bed taking up most of it, though there was a large TV mounted on a wall, a table and a couch. He spotted two doors as well, and assumed one lead out, while the other probably lead to a bathroom. Stepping over Ryohei he went up to one of the doors, noticing a sign on it.

'_Disturb and I bite you to death.'_

"Well, I guess I know where Hibari is..." Tuna sweat-dropped as he also realized that this bathroom was now out of the question. He'd have to go find somewhere else. Cautiously he looked back at his friends, debating waking them and at least letting them know where he was going, but in the end he decided to let the sleep. After all, Reborn knew these people, and Tsuna trusted the Acraborano with every fiber of his being. Besides, Gokudera was here, if Tsuna so much had stubbed his toe loudly, he was sure his over-eager guardian would be there with a stick of dynamite before he'd even woken up.

With a sigh, he once more crossed the room and tugged on the doorknob of the other door. It stuck for a second, but then opened, giving him a slight static shock in the process. The tenth vongola boss found himself in a hall of what appeared to be an older building, full of a feeling of guarded warmth that he shrugged off. He could understand being a little nervous if a bunch of strange people showed up and were crashing in a room of his house, even if he did invite them in. Cautiously he moves down the hall, heading towards the sounds of voices. The teen remembered that the bar Sanctuary was attached to the house on the side through the kitchen, so he figured if he followed the sounds, he'd eventually either find someone to point him in the right direction, or find the stairs to the kitchen. The set up made sense since it seemed most of the staff lived in the building and were related. In fact, four of them looked identical! Tsuna wondered if this extended family living was common in America, or if this family was a kind of Mafia as well.

Suddenly there was the sound of a little girl screaming down the hall. Tsuna took off running towards the sound in an attempt to help the child only to come skidding to a stop as a large dog came tumbling into the hall from the room the scream had come from. He froze on the spot and stared. His chocolate eyes widened in shock as he realized he was looking at a good sized bear cub, not a large dog. The cub shook itself off and returned his stare before raising up onto its back legs and _gaaaa_-ingat him. Tsuna would have thought it was kind of cute, except for the fact that is was a friggin _bear_ that had just come out of a room full of screams. Cautiously he stepped back.

"N-nice bear..." He was so glad he didn't trip like usual as the creature dropped onto all fours and stomped the ground, grunting and then started to paw the ground, like it was going to charge. Tsuna really was wishing he was anywhere else but right there... "really nice bear..." he gulped.

"KAYLE! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" A woman shouted from behind the youth causing him to jump. The blond smiled at him apologetically before frowning at the bear cub, "Get back into your room! When I tell your dad you are so busted, little miss!" Much to his surprise, the cub huffed and skulked back into the room. Sighing the tall woman turned back to Tsuna, "Sorry bout that, Cher, she didn't mean any harm."

Well, his hyper intuition told him _that, _but still, bears could be dangerous even when just playing. "Was that a bear cub?"

Tsuna noticed the woman's guarded look, "Yes."

"Oh. And she understood you. Like, really knew what you were saying, right?"

The woman frowned, but before she could answer a child popped her head out of the room the bear had gone into, "I'm sorry, Aunt Aimee. Please don't tell papa, I won't do it again!" Aimee glared at the child, who properly cowed, ducked back in.

"That girl was the bear cub. Am I going crazy?" Tsuna said in a daze, looking at the tall blue eyed woman in front of him that was eyeing him very warily. He vaguely recognized her from the day before as the woman who had fed him.

"..."

"And your her Aunt...oh." He gulped, "Are you going to eat me?"

"Wh... EW, God no. Why would you even think that?"

"Well, the last guy I fought with that could turn into animals threatened to eat me at one point. Though, he only takes on animal attributes, he doesn't turn into a bear...Actually, I don't think he had a bear mode, he's got gorilla, lion, cheetah...I don't remember bear. Do you use channels, too?" Tsuna eyed the woman, "Ah, but you turn all the way into a bear, right? Ken can't do that, he just takes on their attributes, I think."

"You're taking this better then I was expecting. To answer your question, I'm an Arkadian. The short version is I'm a human with the 'heart of an animal'. We're what the stories of Werewolves and the like are based off of. It's not something you can become, you have to be born an Arkadian or a Katagaria, which is an animal with 'the heart of a human'. It's more complicated then that, so you should probably have Ash or one of us explain it fully to your whole group later."

"Really? That's really amazing!" Tsuna laughed, "People turning into animals is right up there with time travel and talking to the dead, which seems to happen a lot to me, so I can't say I'm too surprised." He grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "Well, at least, ever since Reborn became my tutor, that is. I forgot to introduce myself yesterday. I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but you can call me Tsuna."

The woman smiled, holding out a hand, "Aimee Kattalakis. Nice to meet you, Tsuna, and though it's a little late, welcome to Sanctuary. I run this place with the help of my mate Fang and my brothers. Now, what are you doing up so early? We were expecting you boys to sleep for a few more hours at least."

"Oh, well...I er...had to use the restroom, but Hibari-san is sleeping in there, and I don't want to bother him. It really wouldn't be good for my health. He's not a guy you want to wake up, trust me. Then I thought as long as I was up I'd look for the girls and see how they were doing."

"In that case, follow me. You can use the kitchen bathroom. The girls are actually helping us out by cooking. They're very good at it." She noticed his look, "Bianchi is supervising, of course."

Tsuna felt compelled to stand up for his friend, "Her cooking isn't _that_ bad...it's just...rough if you're not used to it."

Aimee paused at the top of the stairs, "You've eaten it?"

"Well, a few times." He shrugged up at her, "It's no big deal, and it would have hurt her feelings if I didn't. Though sometimes I think she does it on purpose, and she never uses her full skills on us. Did you know I once saw her melt a doorknob with her cooking? She can be really scary when she's angry, too. Anyway, what are the girls helping you make?"

"Food for an army!" Aimee laughed, "Or at least, food for a pack of wolves, a family of bears, a few other weres, and a couple other members of our odd little family who all decided to drop in this morning." She nodded to the bathroom, "Why don't you wash up, and we'll put you to work, too?"

"Right!" Before long, Tsuna found himself flipping pancakes under the supervision of Haru as plate after plate left the kitchen. He wasn't very good at it, much to the amusement of Chrome, who had apparently thought that her boss could do anything, despite all evidence to the contrary. Still, the normally timid teen found he was actually having fun helping with breakfast. It felt good to honestly try something without the guys constantly encouraging him for a change. Not that he didn't really appreciate Gokudera's (completely unrealistic) faith in him, Ryohei's (exhausting) enthusiasm, or Yamamoto's (illogical) advice! It was just sometimes he liked to try things at his own pace, and the girls understood that for the most part. Though they did tease him about his very lumpy batter, giggling to each other as they finally chased him out of the kitchen.

The teen smiled back at the girls as he took his leave, happy to see that they were taking everything in stride once more. Really, he regretted them getting mixed up in everything all the time, but he was slowly coming to realize that if he went out his way to leave them out of things, somehow the three girls would find a way to be involved. Chrome's relationship with Haru and Kyoko was something of a blessing to him, the two girls going out of their way to include the timid mist guardian in everyday things had obviously instilled a new sense of confidence in her. Tsuna managed to snag a plate for himself, and following the directions of one of the look-alike people he kept getting mixed up, headed out to the bar proper. Apparently the place was still not open quite yet.

As he came out from the kitchen, Tsuna found his way blocked by an intimidating man he didn't recognize. The man was easily over six feet tall as he glared down his long nose at the boy. Tsuna gulped and broke eye contact, the piercing blue eyes reminding him of a bird of prey. "Who the hell are you, kid?"

"T...Tusna Sawada, sir." He shifted his plate and risked another glance at the man. He felt that this man was dangerous, but more because he was surprised by Tsuna's appearance, so he attempted to explain, "I, well. My friends and I were kind of sent here by Ares. Ah... Not _here_ here. New Orleans here. Ash-san and Reborn are friends I think, so Aimee-san is letting us stay until we work out what's going on."

"Uhhuh." The man seemed to mull it over, running a hand through his blond hair, "Well, if it's alright with Aimee and Fang..." The man shrugged and offered Tsuna a smile, moving out of the way, "Jasyn. I work here most nights, but I had some...business to attend to last night so it looks like I missed all the action. I'd offer to shake your hand, but your's are a bit full at the moment. Why not grab a seat and I'll get you a drink though?"

"Ah! Thank you, Jasyn-san." Tsuna walked around the bar and hopped up on one of the stools, taking the offered beverage gratefully. Sanctuary was already getting a little bit too warm for his taste, and the air conditioner was not on yet.

As he ate he let his eyes drift around the room which was mostly empty. One of the men he had met yesterday was there, he thought his name was 'Vane'. Sitting with him was an attractive woman and a toddler who was happily tossing his food at the two. Tsuna guessed it was his wife and kid. A few tables away a man with short blond hair sat with an attractive woman leaning against him as a small monkey combed through her hair. He saw the man share a look with Jasyn, kind of like Hibari would, one that said a lot but without a word. A few other people came and went while he sat there watching. Twice he felt like he was being watched and when he looked for the person, found that one of the identical people were eyeing him cautiously. He even caught Vane warily glancing at him once and sighed.

"Something wrong, Tsuna?" Jasyn asked, leaning on the bar across from him.

"Eh? No! No, not at all!" He smiled a little cautiously, "Just feeling a little bit like I'm at a zoo."

Jasyn's eyes got hard,"You got a problem with Katagaria?"

"NO! NO! Not like that!" Tsuna waved his hands, "I still not even sure what that is! I mean that," he pointed without looking to where he could feel someone staring at him before he turned and looked. It was Fang, giving him the same look everyone else had, "See? At least when I have to go to things for gramps people come up to me..." He sighed.

Jasyn laughed, waving over Fang, "I see what you mean, kid. So, don't know what a Katagaria is? Arcadian?"

The mop of brown hair in front of him shook back and forth emphatically "Aimee explained some of it, something about 'human hearts' and 'animal hearts', but she told me to have somebody explain it to everyone later so there isn't any confusion. All I understood is that you can turn into animals, I think."

"Hmmm I see. How about, Appolite, Were-hunter, Dark-hunter, Daimon?" Each time the boy in front of him shook his head. "Hey, Fang." _Mind telling me what's going on?_

"Jasyn," Fang nodded, "Tsuna, right?" _You mean other then us getting a bus full of kids from Japan sent to us from Ares? Not too much._

"Yes, sir."

Jasyn passed Fang a beer, opening one for himself as he came around the bar. _You guys just let them crash here on Ash's ok? Fang, this kid doesn't know anything about our world._

"Aimee says I have you to thank for my lumpy pancakes this morning." Fang teased while Tsuna ducked his head sheepishly stuttering apologies, "Don't worry about it, my cooking is a lot worse. At least these looked like pancakes. Speaking of, those girls with you alright in the kitchen alone like that?" _Yeah, I noticed that. Tsuna said something about Vongola Familia yesterday. Ash mentioned the Vongola, too, whatever that is._

"Eh? Oh, Kyoko and Haru always scold me when I tell them they don't have to do anything. It's their way of helping everyone out. Chrome...well, if it get's too much for her, I'm sure they'll make her sit down. Really, they like feeling helpful, and Reborn keeps encouraging them."

"Yeah...about that. What exactly is Reborn's relation with Ash?" Fang grabbed a stool and sat, staring at Tsuna. He was determined to get to the bottom of things, and Ash had been anything but forthcoming. The petite teen in front of him looked like a good source of information. Everything about the kid screamed "prey" to his wolf, though he'd faced the boy in a fight and knew him to be anything but weak.

"I get the feeling Ash-san knows Reborn through work. Reborn just seems to know everyone, though." Tsuna laughed, "I just try not to be surprised, it's kind of hard when someone recognizes him as some crazy math genius or something."

"Who's Reborn?" Jasyn asked.

"Little baby who's able to speak just fine, wears a suit and a fedora, has a weird ass lizard. Apparently he's known Ash for a long time, _and_ he's got 'a woman'. Real hot one with burgundy hair." He held up a hand, "No, I don't know how that relationship works, and I don't _want_ to know." Both men looked at Tsuna.

"That's Bianchi. She's Gokudera's older sister. Ah, Gokudera is the one with silver hair."

"The loudmouth one with the dynamite? Looks like a punk?"

"Dynamite?" _Seriously, Fang? What the hell did I miss?_

"Eh, long story, I'll tell you later."

Tsuna sweat dropped. "He _is_ a bit of a punk, I guess. He's a great friend, though, and really smart. Sorry about the dynamite."

Fang asked, "How did someone like you get mixed up with someone like _that?_ No offence, but you guys seem like total opposites. I mean, it's quite a mixed bag I got dropped on my porch."

"Ah." Tsuna's brown eyes darted around as he obviously debated what to say. "Reborn. Well. I guess he was the start of it, when he became my...tutor. He put me through all sorts of things. Then because Reborn was there, Gokudera showed up to 'test' me, and Bianchi came because she missed Reborn and just never left. Lambo..."

"LAMBO-SAN want's to play! Loser-Tsuna, play with us!" A little boy wearing cow-print footie pj's and horns sticking out of his afro came running at them from around the counter.

Coming up behind him was another child with a chinese outfit, "Lambo, I-pin is going to win!" she shouted as she raced after the boy at full speed.

"WAHAHAHA, You can't catch me!"

"Ah! Lambo, I-pin, be careful! If you don't watch out you're going to..." Tsuna began just as Lambo tripped over a slightly higher board and hit his head on a barstool. "...hurt yourself." The teen sighed, sliding off the seat, "Are you alright, Lambo?"

"Ga...ma...n..." The boy sniffled as the little girl attempted to comfort him. Her actions only caused the Lambo to start crying, attracting the attention of both couples who were still in the bar. The woman sitting with Vane looked slightly worried and stood, obviously ready to offer her assistance. "WAAAAA! Lambo can't! It hurts!" The boy reached into his hair and pulled out the ten year bazooka out and pointed it at himself.

"NO! LAMBO!" The little girl shouted as she attempted to take the weapon away. Tsuna took a dive for the bazooka as well, desperate to prevent Lambo from pulling the string attached to the trigger. He was just a split second too late, however, and the thing went off with a _**BOOM!**_ Filling the bar area with smoke.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Kitsune here with the next installment in this batch of chapters. I'm ALMOST happy with chapter 6! I'm going to go do constructive things, like maybe write "Burning Rubber" or...play a game. Or read fanfictions. Most likely read. I'm feeling lazy tonight.**_

_**Question of the chapter: "Do you have a phrase that get's randomly stuck in your head?" Mine is "I found and Italian noodle on the ground the other day, it was like chuddy in the rain..." Which is a BAD translation of the second opening of Gensōmaden Saiyūki. I keep wondering what CHUDDY is supposed to be. Oh, I also get the phrase "Banana Nut Bread" in my head a lot.**_

* * *

Fang couldn't believe what he had just seen. Two little children blown away right in front of him like that, it was horrendous. "FUCK! What the hell just happened?! Someone...We need a doctor!" Fang shouted as he waved his hands in an attempt to dissipate the smoke faster. His heart was pounding as he looked wide-eyed at Tsuna. The teen looked at his hand and then the smoke. He sighed heavily and stood back up, not panicked or upset at all. Fang had seen many things as a were-hunter, and as a demon hunter. He'd learned at a young age how to hide how he felt, and so he could tell that Tsuna was genuinely unconcerned by what had just happened; not in shock. He snarled, grabbing the kid by the collar and slamming him into the bar, "Hey Tsuna, what's your problem? Two kids are dead and you're just standing there!" Tsuna's eyes went wide as he attempted to stutter out his reasoning to the irate wolf.

"Yare yare, how'd I get on the floor?" A voice came from the smoke. A teenaged boy with short dark hair in a cow print shirt stood up, dusting himself off. The teen fixed one eye on the scene before him, "Hello Bride!" He waved, "How are Trace and Trinity? I was going to see if they were free later, if that's alright."

Bride blinked at the teen, "Who are you?"

The last of the smoke finally faded, revealing a young woman wearing a white apron and a bandana in her hair. "Huh? Where am I?"

The young man reached out a hand and helped the girl to her feet, "Oh, you're here, too?"

"I was on my way to deliver Mr. Kawahira's ramen...OH NO! His noodles will get soggy!"

"Yare yare, relax. I-pin. You're a bit too far from Kawahira's to make it there before you switch back. You'll just get the little you lost and confused."

"But, the noodles," she insisted, "he doesn't like soggy noodles."

Fang eyed the girl warily. It was true she was carrying a box-like thing. He assumed the ramen was in there, but that still didn't explain who she was or how she got there. For that matter, what had happened to the children? "Who are you people, and what happened to the brats?" Fang growled, still holding tight to Tsuna.

Both of the mystery guests looked at him, apparently noticing him for the first time. "Hello there, young Vongola." The dark-haired teen waved one hand, his other holding onto the girl as she pulled out some glasses and blinked owlishly at them, "It's been a while. How's it been?"

"Adult Lambo! Future I-pin!" Tsuna choked out from where Fang still held him against the counter. "Help?"

The wolf looked between both teens in confusion. "You know these guys?"

"You know us, too. Or you will...Actually, if Tsuna's here, you know us now."

"Tsuna-san? Ah! Vane-san, Bride-san, you are here? Oh no, running will do no good, there is no way I can deliver Mr. Kawahira's noodles from here!" The girl put down the takeout container with a huff and pouted at the other teen, "Stupid Lambo, you're going to get me fired!"

"It wasn't me! It was the other me! I was having a nice time at Simi's party before this, you know." He defended himself, "Fang, could you please let go of Tsuna? He didn't do anything wrong."

Fang complied feeling like he wanted to pull out his hair, "Will you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Ten-year bazooka. Bovino Famiglia's best kept secret. When you shoot someone with it, they are sent ten years into the future, while their future self goes ten years into the past." The cow-print wearing teen said, pointing to himself and the girl, "I'm Lambo, and this is I-pin."

"From the future?" Jasyn raised an eyebrow. "But you're human, right?"

"How rude! I-pin is human!" The girl grumbled.

Vane, standing a short distance away shared a look with Fang before turning his attention to the one he was sure he'd get a straight answer from, "Hey, Tsuna, this true?"

"Y-yes. Lambo kind of does this to us a lot." The teen nodded, rubbing the back of his head, "It's a little hard to believe, I know. But, with the bazooka, time travel is possible for a short while. When it's working, that is."

"Bullshit. Regular humans _can't_ time travel. Maybe if he was a were-hunter, but he's just a normal human." Jasyn laughed, "Kid, this guy is pulling a fast one on you."

Tsuna shook his head, "No really! Not that long ago, my friends and I were sent ten years into the future. We weren't sent all at the same time and I met the ten year older version of them... lots of things happened, and we saw many things that aren't possible yet. It was scary, too."

"You expect us to believe that you traveled ten years into the future?" Fang snorted. "Can you prove it?"

"Uh, the Acabrano told us to keep what we saw to ourselves, so no, not really."

"Not to mention Tsuna prevented that future from ever happening." Bianchi put in, coming out of the kitchen, "Just what I would expect from Reborn's student."

The teen claiming to be Lambo blanched, looking at the woman in fear as he tried to duck before she spotted him. Unfortunately he moved too slow. When she spotted him, her eyes turned cold, and she picked up Tsuna's plate from the counter. A strange odor reached Fang's nose as she snarled "ROMEO!" and tossed the plate at the teen who lunged to the side. Luckily the plate narrowly missed everyone else as it flew through the air to land harmlessly on the floor, where it started smoking.

"For the last time, I'm Lambo!" Screamed Lambo as he ran in fear from Bianchi, who was now chasing him carrying more foul smelling food she'd swiped from the tiger couple.

"Why is my breakfast suddenly smoking?"Maggie almost whined at her mate as her meal was stolen. Wren just shrugged curling his lip in distaste.

Tsuna bowed low, "Sorry, I'll get you something else! That's Bianchi's ability, poison cooking."

Vane raised a hand, "Wait, I thought that affected just what she cooked? And why is she calling that guy 'Romeo'? I thought he was claiming he was Lambo." The were snorted, figuring they'd busted the lie.

"Ah, Bianchi can actually turn _any_ food into poison cooking. She's just more effective if she's made it." He scratched his cheek, and looked away, obviously trying to decide how to explain the next part.

"WHY WON'T YOU STAY DEAD?!"

"I'M NOT ROMEO!" The teen ducked behind Tsuna, "Hide me, young Vongola!" There was a poof and suddenly, the child from before was standing behind Tsuna, a dazed look on his face, "Eh? Tsuna! Play with me!"

"L-lambo..." The burnett sighed as the child tugged on his pants.

"Where'd Romeo go? Where's that bastard, Tsuna?"

"He's gone, Bianchi. Ah! Could you maybe see if the girls have some more food? You kind of stole that woman's plate..." He trailed off as Bianchi handed him the steaming, wiggling pile of death that had been sausage and eggs just a minute ago before heading back into the kitchen. The teen sighed looking down at the plate, obviously debating if he should eat it or not. "Romeo was Bianchi's, er, boyfriend, before she met Reborn. From what I've heard about him, he was a real jerk. Gokura won't say much about it besides he's glad he's dead. Anyway, something happened, and she killed him, but Adult-Lambo looks _a lot_ like him, so she usually tries to kill him when she sees him. I wonder if they get along in the future?"

Fang just stared at the kid, feeling a bit odd that he was so casually talking about a friend of his murdering someone, and seemed fine about it. He didn't even notice much as the two children who had started the whole problem continued their game of tag around the room. Clearly, he was going to have to have a little talk with the Atlantean God when he finally decided to show up.

Just then a shy girl in a mini-skirt and short top with an eye patch came out carrying a plate. He vaguely remembered her being a guy when he'd first met her. "B-boss?" She came up to Tsuna, blushing slightly, "Bianchi said a plate was...oh. I see. Was it your plate, Boss?"

"No, mine is on the floor. AH! I should clean that up before it eats through the wood! That's for the woman over there. Thanks, Chrome." He smiled at his friend as he put the smoking plate down and started cleaning up the one on the floor. The were's saw it _had _burned into the wood floor slightly, and were even more glad that none of them had been hit by the plate.

"Sorry about your breakfast. Haru and Kyoko made this plate up just now for you." She shyly handed Megan her plate with a little bow before turning to Tsuna, "Do you want another plate?"

"No, I'm fine, I was done anyway, I guess."

She swiftly took the plates from the other teen, getting a chuckle from him, "I'll take the plates for you, then. Come on, I-pin, Lambo, after clean-up we'll play."

Vane tapped Tsuna on the shoulder, "Not that I'm complaining, or anything, because she's kinda cute, but, um, wasn't 'she' a 'he' yesterday?"

"It's complicated. But no. Mukuro was just borrowing her body temporarily." The teen stated calmly.

Jayson shook his head as he grumbled, "I am lost. I'm going back to the bar now. Maybe I'll just take a vacation until this is all over."

"Possession? She allows another being to possess her?" Fang growled out, not liking the sound of that. Possessions rarely went well for the person being possessed, particularly if they were physically changed.

"That's really not good, you know. She's in real danger. You need an exorcist or something. In fact, I recommend my brother Fang, here." Vane put in, "He's _very_ good at getting rid of pesky demons."

Tsuna blinked at them for a moment, "Eh? D-d-demons?! That's scary! Mukuro isn't a demon...though he is _scary_ enough to be one, I think. He's an illusionist."

There was a moment's pause as the two brothers thought about that. "Like a magician on TV?"

"Well...how do I explain this? Illusion's aren't real, but if you _think_ they're real, then they are, right?"

"Uh-huh, yeah, I've faced a few opponents like that." Fang said, his brother nodding in agreement. It was similar to fighting in dreams in a way.

"With Mukuro, even if you're sure it's an illusion, it can still affect you. You have to _KNOW_ it's not real, and his are _very_ real. Gah, I suck at explaining this! Chrome knows him best, I usually just try and avoid him because he's so scary. He's not possessing her, though, Chrome trusts him, and Mukuro would never do anything to hurt her, I think." He sighed, "Anyway, he probably noticed Chrome vanished from where she was supposed to be and when he checked on her decided it was safer to take over, which is why he was here last night."

"And how exactly do you know such a person again?" Vane asked.

"Uh. It's kind of a long story, really."

The two brothers shared a look before hopping up on a table and fixing the teen in front of them with an intense stare, "We've got time."

Tsuna visibly shrunk back under their scrutiny, "No, really, I wouldn't want to bore you. Besides, the whole thing seems a little...hard to believe?"

"Listen kid, you're talking to a _wolf _who turns into a _man _and his brother who's a _man_ who turns into a _wolf_. I think you'd be surprised what we believe." Fang pointed out.

The teen seemed to think about that for a second before opening his mouth, "Wait, you're a wolf?!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Kitsune here. I feel like going "Meanwhile, elsewhere in Sanctuary!" So I am. Um, Not THRILLED with the end of this chapter, but I am happy enough with it and it's a good transition to what I am planning next. So, please enjoy.**

**Question of the Chapter: "What would your ideal job be." I want to work with wildlife.**

* * *

Nick strolled in the back door of Sanctuary's kitchen, getting a nod from Remi on his way to the dumpster. The bear smirked, "Not sure if I'd go in there if I were you, Cajun."

He immediately tensed, "Ash here?"

"Nah, not right now, but I expect he'll be showing up later." Remi slammed the lid shut on the dumpster and turned to face the man he'd come to see as family.

Most of Nick was relieved that his former best friend was not around, but another part of him was actually disappointed that he wasn't. The tsudo-dark-hunter hid his conflicting emotions with a growl."Then what's the big deal?"

The were rubbed the back of his head, obviously searching for an explanation, "A...friend of his stopped by with his students. Apparently they got Ares's attention and that ornery bastard zapped them halfway around the world without so much as an in flight snack."

"Ouch. Any reason why?"

"Not a clue." The bear turned back to the young man in front of him, "We spent most of yesterday looking for them. For humans, most of them scream out 'daemon's come eat me!' worse then Tabby's family. Aimee and Fang agreed to put the kids up until this is all straightened out."

"Let me guess, Ash suggested it?" Nick said bitterly as he followed Remi into the kitchen. It was just typical of the Atlantean to volunteer others to help people in need.

The sight that greeted him was not something he'd ever seen in all of his years growing up in and around the famous bar and grill. A woman with dark burgundy hair looked up as they walked in, eyeing him with suspicion before Remi waved her off. She nodded warily to Nick before turning her attention back to the two children seated in front of her who were eating, oblivious to the world around them. Three young women, barely in their teens, giggled as they went about cleaning the kitchen, working as a team with fast efficacy that even Aimee had to move out of the way for.

"Nick! What a pleasant surprise!" The bear-swain said, laughter in her eyes as she navigated the kitchen that was rapidly becoming cleaner then it had been in months.

Despite himself, he felt an answering smile tug at his lips, "Hey, there, sweetheart. When'd you get such pretty new helpers?"

"Oh Chere, you're such a tease!" She chuckled as the three girls stopped cleaning to stare at the tall stranger in their midst with wide eyes. Aimee introduced them, "This is Haru, Kyoko, and Chrome. They've been such a big help in the kitchen this morning, making breakfast for everyone! I don't know if I'll send them back, actually, they're just too helpful."

"Tsuna might be a little upset about that," the woman sitting at the counter chuckled, "He's _fond_ of them, you know."

The girls giggled, blushing, "Aimee-san, we were just trying to be helpful, it was really nothing special." said the girl identified as Kyoko smiled brightly.

"Nothing special, she says. Nick, these three single handedly fed every were in this place, and now look, they're cleaning the kitchen! I can't even get my brothers to do that, you know."

"Well, we might have to fight him for you pretty ladies then. Aimee doesn't give praise lightly, you know." Nick adjusted his sunglasses, looking over once more at the burgundy haired woman, noticing for the first time the goggles she had resting on the top of her head, "And who might you be, beautiful?"

The woman didn't even bat an eye, "Taken. I'm Bianchi, and these two are I-pin and Lambo."

Nick shrugged, "Can't blame a guy for trying." Idly he wondered if he should search out Fang or one of the others to find out more of what was going on. The Cajun nodded to Aimee and headed to the door as he tried to shake the uneasy feeling he was getting as the three girls shared a look and then fixed him with a hard stare. He wondered if they had finally noticed his bow and arrow mark, and was once again a little annoyed that he was unable to hide it. He waited for the inevitable comments, knowing his whole demeanor was probably a little shocking for the three innocents in front of him.

"Ano...Nick-san? Are you hungry? We finished cooking, but if you're hungry, Haru, Chrome and I can make something for you. It's no problem at all!"

He blinked at them behind his ray bans, "Uh, No? No thanks, I mean." Cocking his head to the side, he stared down at the three happy girls who continued to smile up at him while blocking his way, "What?"

The girl called Haru latched onto his arm and dragged him over to a stool, "Haru thinks you _are_ hungry, but are too shy to admit it! You should sit while we make you something to eat."

"Really, I'm not hungry. Honest." He felt a bit flummoxed. These girls weren't put off at all by him in the slightest and ignored him completely. With a pang, he realized it reminded him vaguely of the non-arguments he used to have with his mother. Before he knew it, a plate of bacon and eggs was placed in front of him with a glass of orange juice. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome." Kyoko grinned back, "Ah, Lambo, that's not for you. You have juice. Why don't you help Haru and Chrome put away the dishes with I-pin?"

"Yay! Lambo will put away the most dishes!" The afro-haired child shouted before turning back to Nick, "Ano-sa, why are you wearing sunglasses inside, mister?" The child reached for the shades, and Nick lightly slapped his hand away.

"None of your business, cow-head." The kid shrugged and hopped down, apparently no longer interested as he made his way over to help the girls. He had to admit, the food was quite good for something whipped up in a few moments. As he sat there contentedly eating his perfectly done eggs and bacon, Aimee took her leave saying something about corralling her nieces and nephews as she did. Despite the fact he was completely alone with these strange people, Nick felt at ease watching the girls bustle about the kitchen under Bianchi's watchful eye. The two children helped as much as hindered, turning the whole thing into a game.

The man was so engrossed in watching the transformation of the kitchen, he didn't even bother to turn and look when he heard footfalls come down the stairs next to the kitchen. "Hey, woman, you seen Tsuna around?" Nick actually jumped slightly, caught completely off guard. When he caught sight of the silver haired youth scowling at Haru he was shocked.

"Stop calling me that, Gokudera! Haru's name is Haru!" She snapped back good naturedly. It was obviously an old argument between the two, as he just waved her off, "Umm, I think he's in the bar. Bianchi?"

"Sis?" he asked as two more teens appeared right behind him, one with white hair, the other with black hair. He looked mildly put out when their presence forced him into the kitchen.

"Ah. He was there talking with our hosts while you boys were sleeping." The woman agreed, pulling down her goggles and turning to look at the teens.

"Most Extreme of Tsuna, just what I'd expect! Ah, morning Kyoko!"

"Morning Brother. Are you guys hungry?"

"Nah, should almost be lunch time, I think we can wait." Answered the dark haired one, "Right?"

Gokudera meanwhile was glaring at Nick, "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Nick-san is a friend." Chrome shyly stuttered, "Miss Aimee said so."

"I don't like him." The silver haired one growled out, glaring at Nick, eyes boring into him. Nick had to admit, the feeling was mutual.

Laughing, the teen with black hair and brown eyes rested his hand on the other boy's shoulder, "Now now, you can't be like that. Tsuna wants us to try and get along with everyone, Gokura. We're guests here, remember. I'm Takeshi Yamamoto, this is Hayato Gokudera, and our friend Ryohei Sasagawa. I see you've met the girls already."

"Nick Gautier." He nodded, handing his plate to a hovering Haru, "Remi told me the gist of what happened. So, is Tsuna your teacher?"

"Tsuna? Teach?" The one introduced as Ryohei laughed, "That would be _extremely_ funny."

Hayato growled at him, clenching his fist, "Oy! Turf top, show some respect! Tsuna is our..."

"Relax, Gokudera! You know I respect Tsuna." He waved off the other, interrupting, "Oh, sis, have you girls seen Hibari?"

"No, sorry, brother, he hasn't been down at all."

"Ah, no worries. I'm sure he's around somewhere." Takeshi shrugged, "You know how he is. We should go check on Tsuna and thank Fang-san for putting us up again. Come on, Gokudera."

"Let go of me, you baseball-nut!"

Nick stood and casually blocked their way in the little hall by the stairs, not liking thought of them going into the main room alone, "So, how many of there are you again?"

"Oh, Well, there's the three girls, the kids, Bianchi, and the three of us. And I guess that just leaves three others, right guys?" Yamamoto smiled at him disarmingly as he attempted to step around Nick.

"Three more, huh? Seems like an _awfully_ big group to just drop in. Wanna run how that happened by me?" Twelve people was a large group for a god to be transporting around the room for no apparent reason. These guys were definitely hiding something, and if Ash wasn't going to share it with everyone, _he_ sure as hell was going to get to the bottom of things.

"You got a problem with our numbers, take it up with Ares. That bastard's the one who dropped us here with no warning. Now, _move_, jerk," Gokudera shoved him roughly.

Nick's hand instinctively lashed out, catching the punk's wrist in a tight painful hold before the teen could react. "You didn't say 'please'." He smirked at the boy, hoping to frighten him enough for some honest answers. He was not expecting another hand, wrapped in sports tape, to close on his own wrist in a surprisingly painful grip. He cocked his head to the side at Ryohei, catching the dark look the previously happy teens were giving him. "Is there a problem?"

"Let go of my friend, or there will be a problem." The glint in his eyes promised violence.

"Hey, I'm not the one being difficult here. All I want to know is what a bunch of dangerous looking punks are doing crashing at my friend's place. I want to know what exactly it is you're hiding." Nick snarled, roughly shaking Hayato's wrist for emphasis. He was shocked when his hand closed on empty air, the silver haired teen having deftly twisted out of his grasp.

"I, Ryohei Sasagawa hide nothing!" The white hair teen snapped, punching him solidly in the jaw and sending him staggering back a few steps into the wall.

"Sempai is right, we're not hiding anything." Yamamoto said, getting in his face, "You shouldn't go accusing us like that. If you don't believe our story, take it up with Ash-san. He and Reborn are friends, which is why Aimee and Fang are allowing us to stay."

Hayato glared at him, "Yeah, if you guys don't like it, fine. I'm sure the Vongola have a place around here we can stay. Reborn just said it was probably be safer here considering who sent us, and we've got the girls and kids to think about."

Nick rubbed his jaw, eyeing the three teens with new respect. They were more then ready to keep fighting, but were willing to let matters lay if he was. Running a hand through his disheveled brown hair he sighed to himself. He'd never considered the three girls or the two children to be any sort of threat at all, really. It just _was_ very suspicious that a large number of apparently Japanese youths would be sent to New Orleans by Ares. Given their reaction though, it was possible that they were truly clueless on why. Still, he felt like he was missing something important. "You sure you're telling me the whole truth?"

"For the last time..." Growled Gokudera as a mop of brown hair appeared around the corner.

"Ah! I thought I heard you guys! What are you all doing over here?" Warm brown eyes looked over the scene, "Oh no, you aren't causing trouble, are you?"

"N...No! Not at all, Juudaime!" the silver haired youth's behavior changed like a switch had been flipped, "We were just talking with Nick here about how we ended up here."

"Ah. I see." The boy came into the now very crowded little hall and looked up at him. He was shorter than the other teens, and seemed softer in a way. "I'm Tsuna." The teen cocked his head to the side and looked at him oddly for a second. "Huh..."

"Everything alright, Tsuna?" Takeshi put a hand on his shoulder, obviously curious.

Tsuna blinked, "Eh? Oh, yeah. Um. If you guys are all up, maybe we could all help Fang-san move tables and clean?"

"Extremely cool!" Nick watched as he was all but forgotten by the boys in their enthusiasm for such a simple chore. He wondered what stange pull this Tsuna had over the others as he trailed behind them.

"So, what did we miss, Tsuna?"

"Not much, Yamamoto. I was just talking with Fang and the others before Lambo and I-pin came running in. Then Lambo tripped..."

_"Don't tell me the stupid cow used his bazooka in public?"_ The silver haired teen switched to Japanese, casting a weary glace at Nick as he and Yamamoto were set to moving tables. The Malicahi rolled his eyes behind his shades, understanding them perfectly fine, not that he was going to let on. One of the few perks of his heritage he actually liked, if the truth be told.

_"Yeah. That was hard to explain. Adult-Lambo sort of helped, I think, but I still don't think they believe me. Of course, Biannchi showed up right then and tried to kill him, and so I had to explain that, too. I didn't give them any real details about the Vongola or anything, even though they were really persistent."_ The teen explained as Nick causally went over to were Fang was wrestling with some band equipment and started to help. The wolf didn't even bat an eye, most likely having been told of his arrival by Remi.

Ryohei was easily moving stacks of chairs under the direction of Vane. At his friend's words, a small frown creased his brow,_ "So you don't trust them, Tsuna?"_

_"It's not that!"_ The teen whined slightly as he moved a speaker out of the way, "_I just...I get the feeling things are weird enough around here without us introducing, you know, Mafia-weirdness to it if we can help it. Like, Fang is really a wolf. Did you know that? A WOLF! And Aimee-san is able to be a bear at will."_

By the time the teen was done talking, his friends had all stopped working were looking at him with expressions of mild surprise and awe. Hyato for one looked ready to jump Fang in his excitement. "You kidding! That's impossible! They must be some kind of UMA, we should..."

"Easy now, Gokudera! I don't think they're like that. I get the feeling that they don't _want_ to be pulled into the spot-light. Just think of them like...Shitopi-chan, maybe?" Tsuna looked up from the table they were moving to see Fang eyeing his friends warily, "Sorry, Gokudera get's a bit excited about Unknown Mystery Animals, he calls them."

"And yet, he took Box-animals in stride." Yamamoto laughed, "Right Tsuna?"

"Box animals?" Vane raised an eyebrow, "What the hell is that?"

"Um. A kind of box-weapon."

"Yeah, that was helpful." Grumbled Nick, standing, "Hey, if you're going to be rude and talk in a different language we can't understand around us when we're going out of our way _not_ to do that to you guys, you could at least share."

"Ch. What language could you possibly know, asshole?" Somehow, the Cajun wasn't surprised that Hyato was the one to become defensive while the others actually looked contemplative.

"Ancient Greek, for starters, French, as well as some Italian, and Spanish." Nick snapped back. "Wanna try that again?"

The teen just glowered at him, "Yeah, well, I speak fluent Italian."

"Ah, that's right, Gokudera, you moved from Italy. Can't believe I forgot that."

"How could you forget that, you baseball-freak?!"

"Guys..." Tsuna sighed at his friend's antics before turning his attention back to Nick. "You're right. That was rude of us, sorry. Um. A box-weapon is basically what it sounds like. It can be any kind of weapon stored in a small box that is opened and used by manipulating something called 'flames of life' or 'deathperation flames'. A box-animal is usually still a weapon-type, but it's also an animal, stored in the same way."

"So what, they're like Pokemon?"

"Haha, You know, I never really thought of it like that before!" Yamamoto laughed.

"We should train them to the extreme!" Ryohei joined in, thumbing his nose with a grin.

"That's just cruel." Bride, who up until that moment had been entertaining her son out of the way gave the teens a cold look, "I don't fully understand what you're talking about, but to keep an animal, any animal, in a small enclosed space and only alow it out for fighting? How can you laugh at that? I had thought you were better people then that."

Tsuna shook his head emphatically, denying what she was saying, "Eh? No! It's not like that! I don't think I'm explaining this well...Maybe if I take Natsu out?"

Aqua eyes softened, "You know Natsu get's scared easy...Let me get Uri out. He's been trying to get out all morning anyway." At his friend's reluctant nod, he smirked, raising his right hand. "Uri, come on out!" There was a flash of light off of one of the rings on his fingers... and a strange little animal attacked Hyato's face.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Kitsune here with Dark Skies! Got three chapters done! Alright, not thrilled with the ending of the third, I'll admit it. Might tweak it...but that's for later. Still working on Burning Rubber, for those of you who might be reading that as well, and I have a one-shot that I'm working on, and maybe some other stories. We'll just see. Been doing a lot of writing. I want to you guys for reading, following, faving, and reviewing this story.**_

_**Question of the chapter "What's your favorite sport?" I don't really like sports, so I don't have one.**_

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Everyone stared at Hayato as he sputtered in protest as the creature clawed him, hissing before Nick snorted, "It's Pikachu. Look, it's even yellow." The creature turned it's vibrant ruby eyes on him in a glare, "Or not. Is that a pair of sunglasses on that cat?"

"Forget the shades, are those real flames coming out of it's ears, and is that normal?"

The creature, Uri, sat on Gokudera's shoulder hissing at the were's as the men crowded closer to get a better look. The teen for his part gently rubbed the cat's chin, "Those are DEATHperation, or flames of life, not 'real' fire as it were. It's totally normal for Uri."

Bride pushed her husband out of her way and looked at the kitten curiously, earning a strange mew when she offered him her fingers to sniff. "How odd. He's nothing like any cat I have ever seen, even ignoring the those odd flames. His eyes for one...What exactly is he?"

"We keep telling you guys, Box weapon!" Hayato growled only to be lightly elbowed by one of the others. He sighed and smiled at Bride. It wasn't her fault, after all. She was obviously worried about Uri, and that, he could appreciate. He picked up the kitten and handed him to her. While she pet the little creature into a purring puddle of happiness he explained, "Uri's special. He was made as a weapon. He's a cat now, and his shades are part of his armor, as are his shin guards and he carries some ammo on him, too. Don't let his size fool you, like he packs a hell of a punch, and he's a great partner." The cat yowled it's agreement.

"So you all have these box-animals? Are they all as cute as Uri?" Bride asked, still petting Uri.

Tsuna shook his head, "Not all of us, no. Kyoko, I-pin and Haru don't. Ah, and we know people back home who have a few. They all look different, so I can't say if they're all cute like Uri, though."

"Remember the dinosaur ones? Extremely un-cute!"

"But they doesn't exist now. I don't think you can call Mangaroo cute either, he's kind of beat up. Are sharks cute?"

"Natsu is definitely cute, Juudime!"

"G-Gokudera..." Tsuna rubbed the back of his head. "I think it really depends on what you think is cute. But they're all really good partners. And we all try to keep them out when we can. Ah! Except Beef-bowl. There's really nowhere in the house to keep a bull, and Lambo likes to crash him into things."

Wren eyed the little cat, earning a hiss. The Jager ware grinned at the creature, more of a baring of fangs, causing Vane, who was standing behind his wife to stifle a laugh. The cat might not be a real cat, strictly speaking, but it could definitely smell that they were not real people, and it seemed to be offended by the other feline. Wren wisely kept his hands to himself as he continued to look over the little beast, "I thought you said they were called 'Box-animals'? I didn't see any box."

"Ah. Er. Well, they used to be in boxes." Tsuna explained lamely.

Fang had a better question, "Where the hell do they come from? I mean, a bunch of kids, lugging around creatures that are weapons? And you say there's more of them?"

"Good point, they might not be pokemon, but if a few have attacks like solar-beam and the daemon get a hold of them, the dark-hunter's might have a problem." Nick agreed. All four of the teens looked at each other guiltily. "Shit, there _is_ one with an attack like that?"

"Well, sun-types are actually healing, so..." Tsuna gulped.

"Alright, where the hell did a bunch of kids get these?"

"The future." All of them said.

Fang looked over at Nick, who shrugged. All the other were's shook their heads ever so slightly. in all their trips through time, none of them had come across anything like this. "Bullshit. I can maybe buy that bazooka. But most of us are weres, and in case you didn't know, weres can basically be anywhere or anywhen we want. Past, present or _future_. And none of us has EVER seen those."

Teal, gray and dark brown eyes met before looking over at the warmer brown eyes. Tsuna sighed, "I told Ash-san, but I don't think he believed me. I thought it would be ok because he's Reborn's friend...they have secrets too, so I'm sure they'll understand?"

"Understand what?"

"We _did _get them from the future. We were there, all of us."

"For five minutes with the bazooka, yeah, we know. You explained that."

"No no no! Not like that. Well, the Bazooka was involved, but it was broken. Again. Or, we thought it was broken, even though it really wasn't. Spanner was just jamming it. Future Spanner I mean, because we hadn't met Spanner of our time yet." Tsuna noticed he was getting really confused looks, and vigorously scratched his head with both hands, "GAH! Time travel is confusing!"

Fang smirked, to most people, that would be the normal reaction. It was nothing like the movies, and was full of loops and paradoxes that could cause a person to have a melt-down. He found it odd that the other three boys were just letting the one handle explaining this, "Take a deep breath, and try explaining again."

Tsuna looked at his friends worriedly, Hayato finally took pity on him, "Well, first that stupid cow dropped the bazooka on Reborn and he vanished. But no future Reborn showed up. After five minutes, Reborn didn't come back, either. Then Tsuna got hit, and no future Juudime showed up to take his place. He didn't come back after five minutes. It was terrifying. Juudime! Don't ever do that again!"

"You think it was terrifying! I found myself in a coffin full of flowers!" Tsuna yelped back, "And it was _mine!_ Then when the older you showed up...I thought he was there to cremate me at first!"

"Well, It was kind of a shock for me to suddenly see you in a coffin too, you know. And then we met Lal Mich. Met future baseball-nut...Went to the base and found Reborn."

"Why is he always so calm about these things? Kyoko and Haru as adults were being protected by the older I-pin and Lambo, right before they switched, and of course, Yamamoto got changed too."

"Haha, yeah, Lambo had been running around your room looking for you and the three of us were trying to stop him. The bazooka fell out and, well. Wasn't expecting to find you in the middle of a battle with some flying crazy people."

"Shut up, you were useless!"

"Yeah, I was, wasn't I?"

"Ch. You got a lot better. Hibari, Turf Top, and Chrome all came later."

"It's amazing we didn't wonder at the time how that happened." Yamamoto grinned, "I guess it was just great to have everyone together huh?"

"Well, I think it might have had something to do with fighting for our lives... The future was so scary!"

"I was extremely happy to find my sister safe when I got there! You guys did a good job protecting her!"

"Still doesn't explain where you got the box-animals from." Maggie pointed out, gently petting the armored kitten. She was having a bit more luck making friends than her mate.

"Well, one of the Acabarono's invented them sometime in the future. From what Lal told us, in _that_ time line, it changed warfare completely, and...er..some really bad people ended up with a lot of power. Byakuran, the guy we were there fighting against was _really_ bad. He had the strongest box-weapons, so we needed them, too. I'm still not sure I really get it, but he had, has? the ability to see all the different timelines, and interact with himself from them. It wasn't all the time, but he could control it, which was scary. So he didn't want to take over the world, he wanted to take over _all_ the timelines. When we got there, he had killed off anyone who could stop him in all other timelines."

Vane blinked in surprise. That sounded a lot like a god, or possibly a _very_ strong demon. He couldn't imagine a human person with those kinds of powers. Not only would they themselves be terrifying to face, but they would be potentially unstoppable if they wanted to use those abilities. Something like that, the gods should know about. On the other hand, if what the kids were saying was true, it was just possible that because this monster had destroyed any resistance in the future, the reason none of them knew anything about box-weapons was because _they_ were considered resistant and were eliminated. In which case, giving the kids were here, all the petra-normals owed them their existence.

"At the end, when I was...He told me something about resetting everything...I kind of felt sorry for him, despite everything. Even what he did to Yuna." Tsuna's voice pulled him out of his musing. He smiled sheepishly at his friends, Fang got the feeling it was an ongoing conversation they'd been having. "He must have felt so alone all that time, I think. It's like...well, like with any power I guess? He could have used it either way, but _seeing _how everything just kept going wrong and no one was there to help him, he gave up on trying to help, too. He ignored the good. This time, though, I think he can do better."

"So basicly, after we saved the future, they tossed us back into our time, and to thank us for all our hard work and almost getting killed, the Arcobaleno sent back our box-animals. Everyone who helped out in the future, even if it was their future self, has their box-animal in ring form. Reborn said it was easier that way. That's also where the world wide quake came from, by the way. Acabarno's don't do subtle, it's 'how they roll'."

Fang shared a look with his brother, worried for his mate, _Oh shit. That means that psyco human with god-powers bent on destroying the world is still out there! We've got to find him and...!_

""Eh...I wouldn't worry about Byakuran, if I were you. I know it sounds really bad, but I don't think he's such a bad guy anymore. Tsuna has that effect on people." Takeshi draped an arm around the shorter teen's shoulders as he spoke, smiling easily before pointing to Uri, "Gokura, I think he's hungry."

The little cat was sniffing Fang's thumb as he scratched his chin before narrowing his eyes. He let out a yelp as the little beast bit down hard on the digit, drawing blood before letting go with a disappointed sounding mew.

Hayato's scowl if anything became darker as he snatched his kitten out of Bride's arms and scolded it. "URI! No! Bad cat!"

"Maybe there's something in the kitchen?"

"I know what he wants. Little glutton. I fed you yesterday!" The teen made a fist and shoved it at the cat, causing the were's to tense slightly, thinking for a second he was going to hit the cat. Instead flames similar to what were coming off the cat appeared from one of his rings. Uri mewed excitedly and began lapping up the flames as the teens laughed.

"You really spoil him to the extreme."

"Shut up, turf-top! He's still growing, is all. Uri, you can stay out, but you have to be good, alright? You can't cause trouble for the Juudaime, or you go right back." He warned the kitten.

Once again, Fang wondered what 'Juudime' meant. He noticed Nick frown ever so slightly as the kitten actually nodded in agreement before leaping onto the teen's shoulder as he got back to work. As everyone finished moving the last few tables that had been neglected he managed to find himself moving the pool table with the Dark Hunter, or whatever Nick was. Something about the cajun set the animal in him on high alert.

"So, what do you think about our guests?"

"Honestly? I don't trust them."

"Well, Ash Vouches for them."

"All the more reason to kick them out." came the stubborn reply.

Vane sighed, "He vouches for you, you know. Nick, he's still your friend."

The cajun grumbled for a moment, "Well, I haven't met them all. Just these, and the ones in the kitchen. I think there's two more, right?"

"Yeah, Reborn, who left early this morning on 'business' and one other teen. Reborn's...freaky. Looks like a baby." Nick looked at him, eyebrow raised, "I'm not shitting you. A real baby. Ash said it's one of those 'curse a few to save the world' kind of deals. Sucks, if you ask me. Bianchi, the woman in the kitchen, is his woman, by the way."

"You're kidding."

"Her words." Fang shrugged, "Hibari is around here somewhere. Cranky kid, carries a pair of tonfas. So what do you think of the one's you _have_ met. Honestly."

"The girls actually reminded me a bit of mom," Nick admitted with a bittersweet smile. "First thing they did was feed me. Wouldn't take 'No' for an answer. The brats are just brats."

"You should have seen the older-versions."

"Huh?"

"Time travel bazooka. I'll explain later."

Nick shook his head, feeling less and less alright with these people here, "Uh-huh. Bianchi's a piece of work. Reminds me a bit of Tabby a bit for some reason. What's with the goggles?"

"Hayato's her brother, and he can't look at her face without getting sick. Something about childhood trauma."

"What the hell? That's kind of insulting. Not to mention fucked up."

Fang shrugged, "I didn't get the whole story, just something about piano recitals and eating her cooking."

"She's _that_ bad of a cook?"

"Ash gave strict orders to keep everyone away from any food she's touched. She's known as Poison Scorpion Bianchi."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"What about the boys? Any clue what the hell 'Juudime' is?"

"Hayato is a punk, and Takeshi is a lot more dangerous than he lets on. Ryohei pack's one hell of a punch. They're used to working together, that's for sure."

Fang said, "That's the impression we're getting as well. We fought them, you know. It was a misunderstanding, but they handled themselves really well. What about Tsuna?"

"That kids a mystery. He seems...I don't know. Weak, but not at the same time. The other three follow his lead, which is weird. He doesn't come off as the leader type."

"I've noticed that, too. It's subtle, though. Everything about him screams out _prey_ to all the weres, but Tsuna was a lot stronger than you'd expect. If I hadn't been there in that fight I wouldn't believe it."

Nick hmmed, filing that information away for later. Fang could only guess at what the other was thinking when he suddenly said, "Tenth. _Juudaime_, it means Tenth of something. Mean anything to you?"

"Not a clue. Maybe Ash knows."

"Not like he'll tell you."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Kitsune here with the second Dark Skies chapter update of the week, and the second update of the day. Why, because I'm epicly amazing. Not really, but my ego needs the padding. Really, it does. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the last one, here's the next.**_

_**Question of the chapter: "Ever hold off on doing something you really want to do so it's a reward?" I do all the time. Right now, I'm holding off on reading "The mark of Athena" until I get everything posted and written that I wanted too...**_

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Ash was waiting a good distance away from Sanctuary for Reborn. He'd gotten a call first thing in the morning from Fang letting him know that his little friend had left early claiming he had some business to attend to. The Atlantean honestly wasn't surprised. Some things never changed, and Bra-Reborn was always a bit of a workaholic, particularly when something had pissed him off. Being transported half way around the world was definitely one of those kinds of things. Most likely he was going to head over to the nearest Vongola operated building and get in touch with Tim.

Since Ash didn't feel like having a bunch of highly trained trigger happy hit men pointing guns at him first thing in the morning when he could be at home with his wife cuddling in bed, he decided to wait here, halfway between the two points. He had quite a few questions for the world's best, and Reborn had been doing a good job of avoiding him yesterday. First he's stuck him with Tsuna, and then later he'd asked about Tory, and how they'd met. Bianchi had apparently been in on it, too, and the two women had swapped stories of dates. Though Tory later said normal girls doing get all misty eyed over dodging bullets at a party and poisoning an ambassador when he pointed out that maybe telling Bianchi she once got into a catfight with a Goddess over Ash. It did sound as if the two really cared for each other, though. Ash was happy for his friend, though he shared the wolve's sentiment...he really didn't want to know how that relationship worked.

"Ciaossu. Waiting long?"

"Long enough," Ash grumbled, covering hi surprise. He hadn't noticed Reborn sneaking up on him, "What the hell does that mean, anyway?"

The Acabrano just smirked knowingly at him, pointing over to pointed over in the direction of Café du Monde which could just be seen, "Just something I picked up. The Ninth want's me to thank you for taking in the brats on such short notice."

"The Ninth? You mean Timoteo, is still leading the Famiglia at his age? You did tell him I didn't actually _do_ anything, right? He should be thanking Aimee, Fang, and the others." The Atlantean nodded to the waitress who quickly sat them instead of having them wait. Usually he'd assume it was because he tipped well, but given his company, he couldn't be so sure.

Reborn smirked, "He knows. Don't worry, that's been taken care of. The Vongola Famiglia pays back its debts, you know. Speaking of Tim, he said you should really stop by and see him sometime. He needs to give you and Tory a wedding present, after all."

"He doesn't have to do that." Came the quick response.

"Well, it was that, or throwing you a second wedding." Reborn smirked as the baguettes were delivered, "You might want to wait until after the baby is born to visit, or he might adopt Tory into the family. For the baby's protection, of course."

Ash stared at the tiny hit man, who blithely ignored him, "Reborn, Tim _does_ know I am more then capable of taking care of my family, right?" He wondered if maybe Tim had forgotten that he was a _bit_ different then normal people.

"He remembers." Reborn said, answering the unasked question, "But you know how he is. Family has always been so important to him. More so as he's gotten older."

The Atlantean thought back to the last time he'd seen Timoteo, twenty or so years ago. He'd been in Italy, helping out a Dark-Hunter clean out a particularly nasty nest of Daemons when he'd realized where he was. Actually, Simi had recognized the city and demanded they go visit. The visit had been incredibly pleasant, none of those he'd met as teens seemed even slightly surprised that he'd not aged a day since he'd seen them last. He had missed Bravo's presence, however. Part of him had truly expected to see the man there among his family and friends. Tim in a quiet moment away from his three sons told him he was still in touch with the illusive hitman.

The boys had been a delight, Ash remembered. Timoteo had been ridiculously proud of the three of them. Warrior princes of the modern age, spoiled rotten, and just learning how to be true mafioso. He wondered which one had ended up as the new head of the Familia. "How _is_ his family by the way? He must be a grandfather by now."

"Dead." came the cold reply as the hitman calmly sipped his coffee, "This is really good."

"What do you mean, 'Dead'? What happened? Who, how? I thought the Vongola were basically untouchable."

"We 's plans to change the Vongola created some animosity, though." The hitman frowned, "Frederico was making some good headway, Xanxus backing him. It got ugly about ten years ago. Frederico mysteriously turned up dead, Enrico went down in a gunfight, and Massimo went for a swim."

"That's horrible."

Reborn held up a hand, "Gets worse. Xanxus, Timoteo's adopted son, attempted a coup nine years ago. The kid worshiped his brothers, and he wanted revenge."

Ash nodded, he knew all about that motivation, "Understandable."

"When the Ninth refused to let him go after the familia responsible, and then overlooked him for the position of Tenth, he snapped. His whole squad rose up, almost ripped the Vongola apart. Tim beat him, of course."

"He killed him? His own son?"

"No, froze him solid. Xanxus thawed out about a year ago. Kid's still a bastard, but even I've got to admit, he cares about the Vongola."

The two paid, having finished their baguettes a while ago. As they left Ash looked down at his friend, "So then, Xanxus will be the next leader?"

"You sound worried, Ash. Don't worry about the Vongola, Timoteo had picked his successor a long time ago."

"Uhhuh. Anyway. Want to tell me what the deal is with you and the bunch of kids?"

"I'm training them. The other Arcobaleno and I decided we were not just going to just sit around. Lal is working in the CEDEF now, Colonnello is freelance. Both occasionally take on students. Before you ask, yes, both were affected by the curse, and, no we don't know how that happened. Viper works for Xanxus, Skull and Fon are still with their Famillia. I-pin is Fon's student, by the way. Verde is studying a way to break the curse with science, when he isn't inventing things."

"...Luce?" Ash sighed when his friend shook his head. He'd hoped he'd be wrong about the fate of the sky Arcobaleno. "I'm sorry."

Reborn looked up at him, "We've been through three. Luce, her daughter and her granddaughter. Tsuna and the others were friends with Yuni, so don't bring up. They're not over it."

_Sounds like they're not the only ones not over it. _"Training maffia kids, though. That's rough," he couldn't help but smile at the wicked gleam that shone in the little hitman's eyes. "for them."

"I've got a hundred percent success rate, though. Chiavarone Famiglia's tenth boss was trained by me."

"'Bucking Horse' Dino? He's approached a couple of our squires. Nice guy, hell of a fighter from what I've heard." He'd also heard that Dino had been a bit pathetic as a teen. Meaning Reborn was responsible for his sudden increase in abilities, which really didn't surprise him. Ash ground his teeth in mild frustration, they were almost at Sanctuary and he still hadn't gotten to the heart of the matter. "Look, Reborn. Why those kids? The girls don't seem the type really, and Tsuna..."

"What about Loser Tsuna?" Reborn smirked.

"You shouldn't call him that if your his teacher you know. That kid has self esteem issues as it is."

He shrugged, "I call them as I see them. The real issue is, he bothers you. You can't read him, can you?"

"I can't read any of them, not clearly." Ash admitted, "But that's not the problem. That boy..." he stopped, looking over at Sanctuary. Black Limos lined the parking lot as men and women in suits climbed out. "What the hell?"

"The Ninth moves fast." Reborn nodded, "We should go in the back. I don't think you'll want to miss this."

Frowning, Ace followed the fedora wearing baby in through the back, nodding to the girls as they as they looked up. Reborn jerked his head towards the little hall leading to the bar proper before hopping into Bianchi's arms. With a shrug, all three girls followed, with Haru and Kyoko picking up the drowsy children. The bar was full of activity when they entered, the four teenaged boys lending a hand in setting up for _The Howlers_, a small white creme and red cat running along the counter after Marvin the monkey. Instantly he noticed Nick, the Cajun glaring daggers at him from across the room.

"Someone wanna explain the cat to me?" _Not now Nick. We might have trouble coming in the front._

"Something like Pokemon." Vane grinned, as Fang tossed his brother a beer. Both brothers pulled faces at the silver haired youth who was obviously not amused. _Sorry T-rex, it's kind of confusing._

"I see." There was a knock on the door, everyone turned as one to look as Dev went and open it, the weres tense.

"Sorry, we're closed." The bear grumbled, looking quite intimidating as he stood there, blocking the door. _What the hell, there's an army of suits out here, guys._

"We understand that, sir. Might it be possible if we come in just for a moment, however?" replied a voice.

Dev looked back over his shoulder at his sister, a conversation passing between the two, "Alright, but not all of you. Don't think you'd all fit, anyway."

"Very good, sir." There was a pause as Dev stood to the side, every were stood ready to fight as Bride put herself between herself and her child. Nick moved closer to Ash, knowing that if there was trouble, despite their differences the two of them would work best as a team. A group of five entered, all wearing Armani suits immaculately tailored holding suitcases.

Ash thought he heard a soft groan behind him, but ignored it as Aimee stepped forward, "Can I help you?"

"Are you Mrs. Peltier?"

"Y-yes?"

The man bowed low, "We are here on behalf of the Vongola Famiglia. The Vongola Nono wishes to express his deepest thanks to the Arcadian-Katagaria Famiglia for your assistance in locating and then sheltering the members that were kidnapped by the god Ares." Ash had to give the guy credit for saying that with a straight face.

Aimee smiled, "No, no, it's quite alright. We were happy to help."

One of the other's coughed, "Ma'am, the Nono has given us orders to confirm the health and safety of those you rescued."

Though the words were not threatening, the manner in which they were said suggested that they were there to check to see if they were being held hostages, or worse. Dev growled low under his breath and Ash had to place his hand on Nick's shoulder to stop him from getting in the man's face. He felt his friends anger, but after hearing what had happened to Timeo's family over the years, he could understand the Vongola leader's concern. When Nick glared at him he shook his head, "they're a mafia _family, _Nick." he muttered, knowing the were's would be able to hear him, "Of course they're worried."

"Ah...Sorry..." Tsuna edged past Ash, brushing off some dust on his clothes, "I wish I was better dressed...at least Hibari is in the room this time." he sighed as he and the other youths walked to front.

The girls stopped first, Chrome just a bit ahead of the other two. Ryohei stopped next to Aimee, placing a hand on her shoulder and whispering something to her. Gokudera and Yamamoto flanked Tsuna just a step behind him as the shy youth stopped right in front of the well dressed adults.

"Vongola Decimo!" The lead man dropped the suitcase, reached and put his hand on Tsuna's shoulder, "Are you alright, young boss?! You are covered in dirt!"


	9. Chapter 9

_**Kitsune with the third chapter. Next three are actually being planned out. And those will have plot. YES there is a plot. I'm amazed too!**_

_**Question of the chapter: "Are you a fan of Webcomics?" I have a few strait up webcomics I follow. Jack, Off White, Tenru, and one or two others.**_

* * *

"Boss?" Nick glared at him out of the corner of his eyes, "When were you going to tell us that we had a Mob BOSS here?" he hissed.

His eyes widened behind the shades as he looked over the teens again, "It's the first I've heard about it." How they were standing suggested that the boss would be Tsuna, but the boy wasn't they type. Surely the man meant Gokudera or Yamamoto?_ Maybe Tsuna was just the spokesperson, being the most approachable._

"HEY!" Hayato snarled, "Get your hands off Juudaime. He's fine, he doesn't need you fussing over him." The man quickly let go, looking abashed. _Well, there goes that idea._

"Really, I'm fine. We were helping Fang-san and the others move things around to thank them for their help before you came and got a little dirty."

"They're making the _Vongola Decimo _ do _WORK?!_"

"No," Tsuna smiled warmly at the obviously aghast men, "I wanted to help out. They are friends of Reborn, and we didn't want to inconvenience them. Everyone has been really kind to us."

"Ah. I see. Well then. I shall tell Vongola Nono that you are well. He expressed his regret that it was not time for Mardi Gras, and hopes that next time you can return to our great city together."

"Tell him that I would like that." Tsuna smiled, "But next time, I think I'd like to take a plane."

The man chuckled, before turning back to Aimee, "Forgive my earlier rudeness."

Aimee looked away from Tsuna, who she had been staring at in shock, "No, no that's quite alright. I would be worried too, if our young ones were suddenly lost like that."

"Thank you for understanding. As a sign of our gratitude, I have been authorized to give you these. It is but a small token, of course." Two of the cases were opened up, revealing a wide variety of high tech stun-type weapons that would be highly effective against weres. "Currently, contracts are being drawn up with our legal department to provide you whatever you may need from research and development. Reborn assured the Vongola that it would be put to good use protecting your famiglia."

"T-Thank you!"

The man smiled with a bit more warmth, "I shouldn't be telling you this, because I think he wanted it to be a surprise, but I heard he's shipping over some of his exclusive wines and olives as well. Really, I don't think we could ever thank you enough. You rescued our sky." Tsuna looked about ready to die of embarrassment as his friends were handed the last two suitcases, "Your communicators and suits arrived first thing this morning."

"Isn't that great Tsuna?" Reborn put in from his place in Bianchi's arms.

"Reborn, sir! It's an honor to meet you. Bianchi, I'm a great fan of your work."

"He's a fan of _poisoning _people?" Nick incredulously.

"Well, as a squire, you were a fan of beating the crap out of people." Ash pointed out as his friend exchanged pleasantries with the man before the group left.

As Dev shut the door everyone heaved a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing as they heard the cars pull away. Even the teens seemed to deflate, the girls sitting down with nervous giggles at the table next to Ash and Nick. The four boys wandered over to them and put the suitcases down on the table the girls were sitting at as Aimee handed her brother Remi the weapons they had been given, warning him with a look to put them somewhere out of the reach of nosy cubs.

"Oh, I missed these cloths!" Kyoko chirped, pulling out a black skirt and blazer while the other two girls nodded.

"Sorry about that, Kyoko, Haru. If I had known they were coming..."

"Muhhmmm, Haru thinks it's sweet. They were worried. Besides, We're family, too, right?"

Tsuna sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Well, yeah..." He looked up at his friends, "How did Gramps find out where we were?"

"Gramps?" Ash raised an eyebrow as Tsuna turned around to look at him. When the teen found himself looking up at Ash, Nick, Dev, Fang and Remi the boy gulped and sat down.

"Ash, care to explain this? Because when Aimee and I agreed to let these guys stay here, you just said they were some kids who were _in_ the Maffia."

Remi snorted, "Not any Maffia _I'm_ familiar with. Godfather my ass."

Fang gave his brother-in-law a look, ignoring the interruption, "You didn't say anything about a Mafia boss."

"Well," Reborn put in, "Tsuna's the next boss. Timoteo is still in charge."

"Reborn," Ash growled, "Tsuna is Tim's _grandson?_" Tsuna didn't look anything like Tim, his sons, _or_ their mothers.

"Eh? No! Gramps isn't my real grandpa. He just used to visit a lot when I was a little kid. The Ninth said I could call him Gramps still if I wanted to, though."

Nick rubbed his forehead like he was getting a migraine, "Alright then, let's see if I have this right. You, Tsuna, are basically a mob-prince."

The teens looked at each other before Haru and Kyoko giggled, "Tsuna _is_ like a prince!"

"That's one way of looking at it." Bianchi smiled fondly down at the youth who was now obviously trying to wish himself into oblivion.

"Alright. How is _that_," Fang pointed at Tsuna, "a Maffia Prince?" all the teens started talking at once.

"Tsuna is a great Boss!"

"Hey!"

"Oy, Tsuna's a great leader!"

"Don't you dare insult Juudaime!"

"That's what _I_ said!" Whined Tsuna, cutting through the babble. "I never asked for this, you know. I didn't want anything to _do_ with the mafia! Reborn just showed up one day and said he was going to be my tutor so I could be the next Vongola boss."

"At least I've gotten you to stop saying useless things like 'I don't want to be in the mob' and 'I don't want to be the next boss'.Then you officially were acknowledged as the next boss. You still have a long way to go though, loser-Tsuna."

Nick obviously wasn't the only one with a migraine now. Remi groaned, "Alright, Mob-Prince. Sure. We'll just go with that. I guess it kind of explains why Ares would show up, maybe. Next question is, why are you staying here, and not going back to the Vongola base?"

"Good question. Why are we not staying at the Vongola base again?" Takashi grinned, looking over at Reborn.

"I talked it over with the Ninth and Iemitsu. Both of them agree that this would be the safest place for you right now. Tsuna, your Dad reminded me that as long as you're here, the only threat you have to worry about is from other humans. Well, basically humans. Sanctuary law will protect you to a degree from anything else."

"What the hell is Sanctuary Law?"

"Basically a Scary all-powerful being saying start trouble here and I unmake you." Ash smirked, wondering how Tsuna's dad knew about it.

Tsuna's mouth dropped open for a second, "oh."

Reborn nodded, "Until we figure out just exactly what is going on, they want you to stay here. If that's alright with Aimee and Fang, of course."

"If we say no are we going to be getting another visit from your friends?" Fang growled.

"Ah! Sorry again about that...if you want us to leave, we will. I don't want to cause trouble for you. Not after you've been so kind to us. I'll make sure Gramps understands."

"Fang!" Aimee elbowed her mate in the side hard. "Ignore him. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to."

"Thank you!"


End file.
